A Third Chance, For Bismarck, and Iron Blood
by J.G.Lukasiewicz1919
Summary: It seemed to be the end for Bismarck and her cause, the Sirens masterfully manipulated both Ironblood and the Sakura Empire into fighting Azur Lane instead of the common hated foe aligned against humanity, it was too late for her to realise it, but now, her and a select few others have a third chance to right their wrong. Full steam ahead, for Ironblood.
1. Chapter 1

**'B**_y the grace of a higher power favouring my foe, or by my own arrogance. I let myself be fooled by these creatures which we were originally purposed to fight. To think I would win against those who not of the blood in my veins, still fought for the same goals as I once did, with the greatest pride, a whole nation on my back. I let them lead me to where I stand now, I took down one of my greatest rivals, yes. ..But does it matter when you lose your honour, your pride? I think not... This is instead, quite a fitting end._' Bismarck thought to herself, her long blonde hair strewn about, reaching to the light above. The light of the sun and of the sky.

Her rivals, stood above, though the sea distorted her view on them, she could plainly read just two emotions which was emulated in their faces. Regret... And.. Sadness? A smile donned on Bismarck's lips as the sea got darker, and darker, and the light continued to fade away.

Bismarck extended her right hand extended out to the light which continued to dim, the silence of the sea awaited her. Though that's not what she heard in the back of her mind, an old song, she hadn't heard in a long time could just faintly be heard while her own sight grew darker. '_Deutschland... Deutschland, uber alles.._' She could faintly hear with a tune matching it, though it didn't sound as joyous as she remembered.

Bismarck closed her eyes and pulled her right hand back in, knowing and accepting, this. This was her end. _'Admiral Lütjens... Captains Netzbandt, and Lindemann... I'm coming home._' Bismarck thought to herself as the music she heard, faded, and faded, the tune slowed as a requim for Bismarck.

Though other, disgraceful powers would have other ideas in mind, as Bismarck slowly succumbed, the light of life leaving her, the last thing she felt was something wrapping around her waist before she finally succumbed. Or so she would believe. It would seem as if an eternity had passed before finally, Bismarck awoke. The familiar sounds of the sea greeted her, above flew some type of seagull. She couldn't tell as the salt water around her washed into her eyes, causing them to burn, she shielded her eyes with whatever dry cloth remained on her uniform.

Bismarck still remained standing, somehow, though she knew. She knew she should be dead. Why wasn't she dead? Was she denied entry to Valhalla as she believed so many others before her had gone. She felt in pain, though that was natural. After all she'd been through, she sat up in the water and looked around, her rigging was still in quite a terrible shape, but not as terrible as it had been, looking around her she saw naught but ocean for miles but something inside of her told her.. "_Head south. There will be help, South._" Thus Bismarck trudged forward, slowly, before she realised, she hadn't the energy herself to do it.

Was this some cruel joke? Death wouldn't take her, yet she felt on the verge of it still. Was this some way of the universe, forcing her to suffer for her crimes? Bismarck continued, forward, trudging slowly before she realised there was only but one thing to do. Her rigging reformed from cubes to the giant beast of steel it would nominally become in port, but now she needed it to get her to safety as she slowly climbed aboard, Bismarck crawled on the deck, under cover she sat with her back to the darkened steel walls.

"I'm not dying here... I'm not dying here. I just need to rest..." Bismarck whispered to herself as he breath grew heavy, her vision again grew dim as she sat there, the cold steel to her back, tightly in her arms she clutched the red, white and black flag of Ironblood in her arms as she grew more and more tired. "Perhaps... Just a few minutes sleep.. And I'll be fine." Bismarck whispered as she fell unconsious.

Unknowing to Bismarck, a ship came over the horizon and came to the massive hulking warship which Bismarck's rigging had become. Over the next few days whilst she lay unconsious, ships would flock to the mysterious seemingly abandoned warship before finally the military had stepped in.

Overhead, large warships floated above the ship, deploying a few dropships, the craft descended to the deck of the ship and troops in strange armour left the crafts as they began to sieze the ship and search it. It didn't take long for these troops to discover Bismarck, laid under the rear of the second frontal turret, wrapped up in the Ironblood banner with her golden locks of hair strewn about. Others went about finding a way into the ship itself, however it seemed every door was locked and unable to be opened.

It was figured this was for good reason, was this woman responsable for that? In fact, who was she? It wouldn't be long before it would be decided that the ship was to be towed to the nearest port, and the woman taken into custody, however as soon as she was lifted, it was discovered she was quite badly battered, her breathing and pulse almost non-existant, just what happened to this woman, and this ship?

Bismarck would be taken aboard one of the overhead flying ships and taken to a medical bay while the ship would be towed to the nearest port. Which Bismarck would come to know as a new home. Vale.

Bismarck laid unconscious in bed, her blonde locks strewn about the bed, the cap she usually wore sat on a table next to the bed while her uniform was hung up and the tattered banner folded up, sat on a knee high table infront of the bed while a machine beeped every so often, an oxygen tube ran up to her nose, pumping oxygen inside as she breathed. The machine next to her bed continued beeping while she breathed.

Unaware to her, the door to the roop was opened and in came a tall, about 1.98 meters tall man, cleanly shaven, who wore a white suit, along with him was an older man who wore a typical white labcoat as most in his position would.

"So this is the only person that was found aboard that warship that was discovered, doctor?" The tall man asked as he approached the bed that Bismarck laid in bed, motionless.

"Yes, she's the only one, we found her with the clothes you see and the banner there, she was wrapped up in it and it took a good number of men to get her unwrapped then her changed into a gown." The doctor said as he also approached the bed.

"Any idea who she might be?" The tall man asked, picking up the hat that sat on the bedside table.

"No, other than a name written in the hat. "Bismarck". That's all. And we found that very same name painted on the lower portion of the outside of what we can assume to be the bridge of the ship she was found on." The doctor replied.

"I see... And, the outside? Has no one been inside of it?" The tall man asked with an eyebrow raised.

"There were attempts made but all were unsuccessful." The doctor replied plainly.

"Were there armed soldiers on the ship?" The tall man asked, hoping to figure out why no one had been inside.

"No, as I said, she was the only person aboard. The ship itself, it's impossible to enter." The doctor replied.

"How so?" The tall man asked now concerned about how it could be impossible to enter an almost abandoned ship.

"The doors simply won't open. And there's already apparently quite a bit of structural damage." The doctor answered.

"So then should we scuttle it?" The tall man asked, wondering what use it would be to tow a ship that was virtually a mystery and likely damaged beyond repair.

"N-no.." Bismarck said as she slowly awoke in the bed, feeling weak, still.

"No?" The tall man said with an eyebrow raised, now his attention focused on the blonde woman who looked worse for wear. The doctor on the other hand ran to get a nurse.

"I-I don't want to die again... No scuttling... Please." Bismarck said, as tears welled up in her eyes, the doctor returned with the nurse who adminstered a sedative, causing Bismarck to fall unconsious again.

The tall man was now absolutely at a loss for words, just what did this woman mean by "I don't want to die again"? The woman then fell fully unconscious as the nurse left, the doctor scratched the back of his neck, almost at a loss for words as the tall man.

"General Ironwood, I don't even know how she woke up, I've seen others in such a condition and they've been in a coma for years after they were found." The doctor said.

"You should've let her speak... Now we have a new mystery on our hands." The tall man, now referred to as "General Ironwood", said.

"What do you mean?" The doctor asked.

"She said, after you left. "I don't want to die again, no scuttling." ...I hate to say it but this mystery, whoever or whatever this woman is, just became one of my top priorities." General Ironwood said, looking down on Bismarck as he set her hat back on the bedside table.

"You mean... She implied, she would die if the ship were scuttled?" The doctor asked, now just completely and utterly confused.

"Precisely. So we'll tow the ship back to Vale, see about getting a drydock set up and see if any repairs can be done. If my theory is correct then you should see a slow but steady recovery after we reach Vale." General Ironwood said before he left.

"I..." The doctor said, looking to Bismarck then General Ironwood before he just shook his head and left with the General.

A few days later, a large crowd had gathered at the Vale port to watch the Atlesian Military bring the ship into port and moor it. The ship to the average civilian must've been a new warship belonging to Atlas, but one detail stood out, at the approach to the bow of the ship and it's stern, a red swath with a white cricle and a black x were painted on the deck, while atop the ship's mast, a tattered flag that was red, white and black, with the design mainly being that of some type of cross flew high up on the ship.

Soldiers of the Atlesian military stood on the deck of the ship just guarding it, no one could be seen going in and out of the ship, as guards were rotated out and in via dropships. At the docks, four girls would be seen staring at the ship, one in red just gobsmacked and amazed by this war machine, one in white who seemed less than impressed, one in black who also seemed less than impressed, and one in yellow, concerned with how much the one in red was obsessing over this ship.

"Ruby, it's really not that..." The taller girl in yellow started before she was interrupted by the one in red, identified as Ruby.

"Don't finish that sentence! Look at those cannons and tell me it's not cool! It's gotta be some new Atlesian military project!" Ruby yelled as she stared up at the ship's cannons.

"It's not." The girl in white and the one in black said in unison, almost looking at each other before shrugging it off, mentally.

"How isn't it? Only Atlas could produce something like this." Ruby said, trying to defend her point to the warship being Atlesian.

"Ruby, look up at the mast." The girl in white said, annoyed. Ruby did but then immediately looked back to the girl in white.

"Okay but that doesn't prove anything." Ruby said, almost denying what the girl in white was saying.

"Ruby, you dolt! That's not even a Atlesian flag!" The girl in white yelled.

"Oh don't try to lie to me, Weiss! It has to be!" Ruby yelled in defense.

"It's really not. That flag doesn't belong to Atlas and, look. It's heavily damaged. More than anything, all the evidence, save for the flag points to it being a battle trophy of some sort." The girl in black said, looking over to Ruby.

"Oh not you too, Blake..." Ruby said, officially defeated in the conversation.

"I gotta agree, but who does it belong to? Never seen a flag like that before." The girl in yellow pointed offhandedly up to the flag.

"I dunno. I guess we'll figure it out if they ever release any news on it." The girl in black, now identified as Blake said with a shrug before she turned and left.

"Yeah, we'll know soon enough." The girl in yellow said befor she left with Blake, Weiss followed and as did Ruby.

**Back at Beacon, however a different discussion was ongoing.**

"You mean to say, this warship, certainly doesn't belong to Atlas?" Ozpin asked, surprised at the news, from first sight, the ship seems like something in the realm of possibility for Atlas to construct.

"That is exactly what I'm saying. And what's more is when we found it, there was one occupant on board, in as terible condition as the ship is in." General Ironwood said.

"I don't think I need to say what we're all thinking, but explain?" Glynda asked, confused. One sole survivor on the ship? How long was it at sea for?

"She's a young woman, long blonde hair, blue eyes, she was found wrapped up in a flag not unlike the one that's on the ship's mast. And she wasn't found inside the ship, but under one of the gun turrets." General Ironwood explained.

"Why wasn't she found inside?" Ozpin asked.

"I don't know, perhaps under that turret is all she could manage to scramble to. The ship itself is in terrible condition but it's saveable." General Ironwood said.

"Saveable? You mean Atlas intends to commandeer the ship?" Ozpin asked, surprised, no one thus far had claimed ownership so Atlas claiming it wasn't a surprise in the least.

"It's not just that, there's something which doesn't add up about the woman and the ship." General Ironwood explained.

"Again, explain?" Glynda asked, wondering how just the woman and the ship alone couldn't add up.

"The woman's name, is the same as the ship. It was written on the inside of her hat, and it's written just below the bridge of the ship, or what we can assume to be from looking in on the windows." Ironwood explained.

"So, we've a woman whose name is that of the ship she was found on... I can see how that may be a bit concerning, but perhaps we're reading too much into it. Ships are named after people quite often." Glynda said, hoping to inject some sense into the conversation.

"That's true. But this isn't some old man's fishing trawler, and this isn't his life long sweetheart's name." Ironwood said, plainly, and it was true.

"You mean, there's a reason for the ship and this woman being named one and the same." Ozpin said with an eyebrow raised.

"Exactly. A warship like this, you don't name after your highschool sweetheart. You name it after a person of great importance, or a place of great importance, or something to strike fear into the hearts of your enemy." Ironwood said, explaining the obvious.

"Perhaps you're right, but what would this all mean?" Ozpin asked.

"I have a theory, and it requires Atlas to build a drydock, here, in Vale. And begin repairing the ship." Ironwood explained.

"How does this relate to the girl then?" Glynda asked.

"The girl, as I've been informed has injuries mirroring that of the damage on the ship. Her feet are badly broken, her legs are as well, her whole body is a mess. Frankly to my knowledge, from what I've been told, it's a miracle she's alive... And there's one thing that doesn't sit well with me. A brief conversation that I held with her." Ironwood said, remembering the quite uncomfortable conversation, however brief it was, and the fear, and the sadness that the girl had when she spoke.

"What was the conversation?" Ozpin asked.

"The doctor and I were discussing the idea of scuttling the ship... She woke up and said "No.".." General Ironwood said, reflecting on the conversation and what it could mean.

"I assume that's not all that was said." Ozpin suggested.

"You're right. She said "I don't want to die again, no scuttling." General Ironwood said. A chill almost ran up his spine and likely the spines of Glynda and Ozpin as well.

"You mean, she implied, she might die if you scuttled the ship?" Ozpin asked, somewhat concerned at this implication.

"That's right, that's exactly what she implied." General Ironwood confirmed, grimly.

"Just, how could that be possible?" Glynda asked. Ironwood looked to Ozpin, the two were of the same mind and this only made their concern more viable.

"You're thinking what I'm thinking, aren't you?" Ironwood asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I believe so. And it under normal circumstances, makes no sense what so ever.. Yet in our world, as small as it is, there's many questions which remain unanswered and more of them every day." Ozpin said.

"Then I'll begin having the drydock constructed. And, one more thing.." General Ironwood said before he went to leave.

"Yes?" Ozpin asked.

"I'll have her brought down to Beacon, so we can keep an eye on her, it's best to not make her feel like a prisoner, but maybe a guest." General Ironwood said before he then left.

"I see.." Ozpin said. It should be perfectly fine. And it may help figure out just what and who she is.

**Off elsewhere...**

"It seems the Atlesian military just rolled in and they brought with them something real interesting." Mercury said while he and Emerald made their way into an abandoned warehouse on the sketchier side of Vale, to a man hunched over a map with a white coat and bowler hat on

"You mean the giant warship? Please tell me something I don't know. It just makes our jobs 10x easier since they'll be busy covering security for it." Roman said, mildly annoyed.

"I don't think so, seems like they're building something under the ship." Emerald said with her arms crossed.

"Then they're gonna dry dock it, try to use your head, hun." Roman said, more so annoyed.

"What's going on?" A woman's voice was heard and from above, on a catwalk, coming down on a cargo lift, it was Cinder.

"Atlas brought in a big toy of theirs, we'll we think it's theirs anyway. It looks like something they'd build... But not so impressive." Mercury explained as he and Emerald approached Cinder.

"What is it?" Cinder asked, somewhat curious about this discovery.

"It's some type of warship, but it doesn't fly. It's stuck in the water and it's from what we've been able to see, seen better days." Mercury said.

"I don't think it's Atlas' though. They can't seem to get into the ship and their guards are being rotated out by dropships. Also, the flag on the mast isn't Atlas, nor any of the other kingdoms." Emerald explained.

"So we're dealing with something unknown but apparently claimed by Atlas?" Cinder said, holding her chin in thought, just wondering what was going on.

"Yeah that seems about the gist of it." Mercury confirmed.

"Let them do whatever they plan on with it, it's of no concern to us and may not even be of any use, so ignoring it will be of no consequence. Let them flash their apparent trophy, wherever they got it from, and let them do whatever they desire to try to fix it, it'll just make it more fun to sink it when the time comes." Cinder said, with a smirk donning on her face...


	2. Chapter 2

**"N**-nhn..." Bismarck slowly awoke, sitting up in bed she held her head as a throbbing pain encompassed the top of her head. "Mein Gott im Himmel... What happened...?" Bismarck asked herself aloud, unknowing of the occupant that awaited her awakening in her room.

"Ah, thank goodness you're awake." A mysterious voice Bismarck hadn't heard before, she looked around only to see a strange looking girl with skin as pale as a ghost's, orange hair with a pink bow, green eyes, and some strange looking outfit, she couldn't tell if she was from Ironblood, but she did kind of look, atleast in the clothes to be from the Sardegna Empire who were supposed to be part of the Red Axis, though the whole room, now that she looked around and took the sight in, looked nothing like before, it was some strange homely dorm.

"Who are you, and where am I?" Bismarck asked, concerned about just where she had been taken, the room before when she first awoke was white and as one could described "futureistic".

"Oh, I'm Penny! I was told to stay here and make sure you were okay when you woke up." The girl now identified as Penny said with a smile.

"I see... I would assume I will be alright as the repairs I can feel are underway, are they not?" Bismarck asked, as she pushed her covers off and went to get off the bed, Penny stopped her for a moment.

"What? What are you doing, girl?" Bismarck asked in anger.

"I... I was told it might be a bad idea for you to walk around for a bit. Let your legs rest and heal, that's what the doctor said." Penny said as Bismarck looked up to her.

"That is ridiculous. And impossible. I need to go oversee the repairs." Bismarck said, adament about going... Before she realised, she would have to change first, and looked past Penny, then she realised just then that her clothes were hanging up across the room on a hook attached to a closet door.

"Scheiße.." Bismarck said aloud before she looked to Penny again, letting out a sigh.

"Fine, fine. Go get my clothes, I assume there's another way I can get around?" Bismarck with an eyebrow raised, expectant that this was thought of.

"Yes, there is, I can carry you." Penny said, and Bismarck deadpanned at the almost frail looking young girl.

"No." Bismarck said plainly.

"W-what?" Penny asked, shocked that this would be refused.

"Absolutely not. Absolutely impossible." Bismarck, once again said, plainly before a knock was heard at the door.

"Penny! Are you in there?!" A young girl's voice was heard and it was apparently known to Penny who this was.

"Ruby! Uhm... Yeah I'm in here but..." Penny said, nervously, looking to Bismarck who was giving her a look of "If she walks in here and I'm not dressed, there will be trouble.".

This caused Penny to run over and grab Bismarck's outfit and bring it to her, Bismarck took the outfit and instantly started dressing.

"Ruby! Can you give me a moment?! There's a bit of an issue in here! I'll let you know when you can come in!" Penny went over to the door and held the knob as Bismarck got dressed, and soon enough finished, she ran her fingers through her hair in lieu of a brush and put her cap on before she looked to Penny and nodded.

Penny then opened the door and was met by Ruby who rushed in and hugged her, behind Ruby was the rest of her team who came in, getting around the two girls who were hugging each other, then they noticed Bismarck who sat there in full regalia as per usual.

"Uh... Ruby, your friend has another friend." The blonde in Ruby's group spoke up and Ruby took notice of Bismarck.

"I would not call myself, a friend. More like an acquaintence by circumstance." Bismarck said, looking to the group, the most colourful if not strangest looking group she'd seen.

"Uh, hey!" Ruby said as she made her way over to Bismarck, to introduce herself.

"I'm Ruby Rose, and this is my team, Weiss, Blake, and Yang. Are you part of Penny's team?" Ruby asked.

"Team? No. I am not apart of... Penny's team, I'm Bismarck." Bismarck said, looking up to Ruby as she sat on the bed remaining almost unmoved despite having to get dressed in a hurry.

"It's nice to meet you Bismarck!" Ruby said cheerfully, extending her hand out to Bismarck who took it, shaking it while being mindful not to crush her hand, she was among humans now, so she couldn't be too careful.

"So where are you from Bismarck?" The blonde, identified as Yang came over and asked.

"I'm not from anywhere you'd recognise I'm afraid... Infact I've moved around a lot." Bismarck said, trying to keep these people who she didn't know from getting too much information, this might be a Siren trick after all, to get as much information out of Bismarck as was possible.

"I've moved around too, I might know atleast one of the places you've been around to." The brunette dressed in black and white said as she came over, joining the three who stood infront of Bismarck.

"Trust me, you will not know anywhere of where I've been." Bismarck remained adament and the brunette nodded, giving Bismarck some space.

"Eitherway, I must see of this new ship. Penny, have you brought my wheelchair?" Bismarck asked, looking to Penny.

"Oh, yeah I forgot about that! It's in the closet, give me a second." Penny said and went over to the closet before Weiss also made her way to Bismarck.

"Your uniform is quite... Well. It seems formal, are you in the military?" Weiss asked.

Bismarck remained silent internally debating on what to tell them while Penny got the wheelchair out and began setting it up.

"You are... Perceptive, Schneeweißchen." Bismarck said begrudgingly. She knew now it would have to come out eventually, but how it would was ultimately up to Bismarck.

"What did you call me?" Weiss asked, annoyed.

"I called you Snow white... Regardless. You are right, I am as one may say "in the military"..." Bismarck said, one more begrudgingly, she hated to admit it though Weiss was more right than she would ever imagine.

"Then which military are you in?" Weiss asked.

"I serve Eisenblut... Ironblood." Bismarck said, Weiss was geniunely surprised. As was everyone else in the room. Though they hadn't heard of Ironblood, though it sounded rather intimidating, might it be a lie?

"What's Ironblood?" Ruby asked, curious as to what Ironblood is which in the innocent way she asked broke the unnerving brief silence in the room.

"Ironblood are the protectors of the seas, we were once part of the alliance known as Azur Lane, however their weak willed tactics against the enemy forced us to reconsider the alliance and thus we fought each other." Bismarck explained.

"What do you mean you fought each other?" Blake asked, somewhat concerned.

"We fought. I myself sunk the HMS Hood, and later paid the price for it... And realised my wrongdoing. I was wrong to kill her. The Sirens decived the Red Axis, and yet it was just before my death, I would realise it." Bismarck said, somewhat remorsefull.

"You mean, you killed another person?" Ruby asked, her mouth agape.

"Another ship, yes. I am not a person, nor was she. I am the embodiment of the Battleship Bismarck. I am the leader of Ironblood." Bismarck said, not overly competently, not arrogantly, it was a fact of life, the way she said it.

"So... You're the embodiment of that warship down in the harbour?" Yang asked with an eyebrow raised, under her own golden locks.

"That is correct." Bismarck said, one more as if it were but only a fact.

Weiss, herself was stunned and made silent. Never had she heard of any of this, yet this woman infront of her stated it as if it were simply fact, one no one could change. A silence once again overcame the room before Penny made her way to Bismarck with the wheelchair.

"Uhm... Bismarck, here's the wheelchair." Penny said, nervously while Bismarck struggled to get up and get in the wheelchair for a moment before finally doing so, sitting down in it.

It was all quite hard to believe, and that was itself an understatement.

"Anyway we are going to see to the repairs to the three, three bladed screws and my rudder. Then I shall be atleast able to walk." Bismarck motioned for Penny to go on ahead. The group was in disbelief as Penny actually went along with it, but they figured it was best to keep an eye on this woman and their friend as they made their way through the dorm halls of Beacon, the group would pass by three certain black clad individuals, one with brown skin, red eyes, and green hair, another with long black hair, and another. Male, with silvery-grey hair. The three stopped and watched as the group passed with Bismarck at the front in her wheelchair.

As the group left down the hall the three just looked to each other.

"I wasn't aware parapelegics were allowed to become huntsmen." Mercury said smugly.

"You're one to talk." Emerald said with a roll of her eyes.

"Fight later, didn't you see the blonde's uniform?" Cinder asked.

"Yeah, I've never seen anything like that." Mercury said.

"Mhmm. Wonder who she is to be wearing something that fancy." Emerald said before she started on her way. Cinder had a whole mystery of her own to solve, this girl wasn't from Atlas, otherwise she'd very well likely be wearing one of those white uniforms. No, she was something else entirely.

Though the trouble was only just begining in what was to be, technically, Bismarck's first actual day in this world which was quite already from appearences quite different from her own, leading her to suspect a number of things. Humanity surely had an enemy, this institution she was stuck at was from what she gathered from passing conversations, geared towards training "huntsmen and huntresses."

Perhaps these "huntsmen and huntresses" were fighting Sirens? If so then were the girls she was stuck with, also shipgirls? Bismarck remained silent while she was taken down the hallways, the group could be heard getting closer to what sounded like two men fighting, rounding a corner her chair was pushed into and knocked over a tall man with burnt orange hair, wearing plate armour, bouncing off Bismarck's thighs and onto the floor

"Was zum Teufel?" Bismarck asked loudly, looking down on the towering man who slowly got up.

"Who was-?!" The man saw Bismarck who looked down on him with an eyebrow raised.

"Who let a parapelegic in here?" The man said loudly with a chuckle, Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang stood back just observing for the time being, no matter how much Ruby might've wanted to intermediate.

"I am a guest here, the real question is, if this installation serves a military purpose, then what is some loudmouth baffoon doing in here?" Bismarck replied coldly.

"What'd you say to me?" The man got clearly more angry, focusing on Bismarck's looks, noting her blue eyes and blonde hair, which was shared with the boy he was just arguing with... Before he realised who he was talking to with the uniform, was she some sort of military officer?

"Woah, woah, woah, hold on..." The man said almost at the ready to retract his statement before Bismarck mustered all her strength and stood up, a full head over him in height, she looked down on the man.

"You dare speak to me in such a petulant way then cower at the realistion of who I am?" Bismarck said, cold as ever, just a few minutes ago she struggled to stand up, now she was standing though Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang could see her right leg shaking as she stood.

"I'm sorry, I'm just gonna-" The man said before he ran, Bismarck stood there as the man left and she winced in pain before she sat down in the wheelchair.

"Verdammter Idiot!" Bismarck yelled as she gripped onto the armrests of the wheelchair, squeezing them and causing them to misshapen, visibly to Penny, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang.

"Uhm... Miss Bismarck? Are you alright?" Penny asked, while Bismarck shook her head.

"No, I'm not. Just get me to my other half." Bismarck said while she held onto the armrests, the pain subsiding while the blonde boy just watched.

"Ruby... Uhm... Whose your friend?" The blonde boy asked.

"Oh uh.. Jaune, uh... This is Bismarck." Ruby said somewhat slightly trying to be cheerful though the internally dead look Bismarck gave Jaune caused a chill to run up his spine.

"I.. See? And.. What did she mean by other half?" The blonde boy, now identified as Jaune asked.

"It is none of your concern." Bismarck replied before she motioned for Penny to continue forward. Penny complied and continued pushing the wheelchair forward while the group followed behind, picking up Jaune who followed behind Yang who was quietly catching Jaune up on everything... With a few warship puns inbetween.

Though the original plan would go off the rails quite a bit as another woman with blonde hair, green eyes, clearly she was one of the people in charge here as Bismarck could tell, she came straight to the group.

"Hello, students. I need to borrow your wheelchair bound friend for some questioning." The woman said, Penny would try to object before Bismarck rose her hand to signal Penny to wait a second before speaking.

"May I ask since I'm the one to be questioned what it is about?" Bismarck asked, dropping her cold demeanor she held before, for one more neutral and calm.

"You may while on the way." The woman said.

"I see... Alright. I will follow you, Penny, please meet me outside so we may continue where we left off." Bismarck said as the woman motioned Bismarck to follow her, Bismarck silently went along with her, moving the wheels herself as Penny let go.

Going on further down the hall, Bismarck started to ask the questions she wanted to before she would reach wherever she was going.

"So I assume this is about who I am, what I am, where I'm from, and who I serve, is it not?" Bismarck asked

"For the most part. General Ironwood, whose own forces pulled you and the ship you were on to Vale will be there to ask questions, mostly. I and the headmaster of this school will only mostly be there to listen." The woman said and confirmed. It would be a questioning about Bismarck and her past.

"I see... Then you must know of my name." Bismarck suggested.

"Only the assumption it's Bismarck." The woman said.

"That is correct." Bismarck confirmed.

"I see.." The woman said as the two went on their way through the school and up to Beacon Tower, where at the top she was greeted by the sight of the man she'd briefly seen the first time she'd woken up and another man with white hair and sunglasses type specticles. So this is where she's supposed to make her new home, if she was truly to be stuck in this new world, she figured she would have to make a few choice allies.

"I'm glad to see you're... Up and about, Miss Bismarck." The tall man in the white suit said, this was likely General Ironwood who the blonde woman mentioned before.

"It is just Bismarck, Herr General." Bismarck said, saluting the General who was caught off guard by it, he returned it though.

"Herr? ...Nevermind. So, you're military as well?" General Ironwood asked

"I am the Iron Blood battleship entrusted with the name Bismarck, yes." Bismarck said.

"Iron Blood? Is that the organisation you serve?" General Ironwood asked.

"I served it and lead it until I was tricked by the Sirens into waging war against my fellow warship girls." Bismarck said.

"Warship girls...? You mean there's more than just you?" General Ironwood asked.

"There are nine nations which possess warship girls like myself, Iron Blood is just one of them." Bismarck said.

"So is it a possibility that there may be others found? Possibly not from Iron Blood?" General Ironwood asked.

"I would think not. Perhaps my coming to this world was the work of the Sirens... To force my kind from one world, into another so that they may keep Humanity out of the seas." Bismarck said.

"You mentioned them before, what are these.. Sirens?" General Ironwood asked.

"They appear to be our version of, from what I've gathered, your Grimm. However they're not animals. They're humanoid, but they only retain the seas and there's two main types. Higher ranking, humanoid Sirens, and the mass produced types... Which is how I was fooled.." Bismarck admitted shamefully.

"How were you fooled?" General Ironwood asked.

"One of the Sirens promised Iron Blood, the Sakura Empire, the Sardegna Empire, and the Vichya Dominion technology if we were to form the Red Axis, and declare war against Azur Lane, the alliance between the Eagle Union, the Royal Navy, Eastern Radiance, The North Union, and Iris Libre. The Red Axis was also apart of this alliance before the war but as I said, the Siren promised us great warships of immense power, stronger than I or my yet completed sister, Tirpitz..." Bismarck said, regretfully.

"I see, so they tempted you to declare war on your allies for technology.." General Ironwood said

"Correct, and sadly I as well as Akagi from the Sakura Empire were fooled, and she managed to get the support of Nagato who leads the Sakura Empire, like I lead Iron Blood." Bismarck Explained.

"So the Red Axis was formed to fight Azur Lane, for technology?" General Ironwood asked

"One may say that, yes, but it is also how to use said technology. If we can weaponise the mass produced types of Sirens then we would have an extra edge in the war, however we failed in that. And thus we used what is called a black mental cube to control them, which is what the higher up Siren gifted us in exchange for fighting Azur Lane." Bismarck explained.

"If I may ask without getting too far off subject and intruding into this. Just what exactly is a "Black Mental Cube"?" Ozpin chimed in, wondering.

"It is a corrupted mental cube, a mental cube in general contains the soul of a warship girl and gives her two forms. The one which you speak to right now, and the form down in port." Bismarck explained.

"Is such a mental cube inside of you?" General Ironwood asked

"It is in one way. It is inside of my form that is down in the port, hence why your men have likely been unable to enter it, it is because the mental cube, in the wrong hands can force another's will on a warship girl. To force one's way inside of my other form will result quite terribly, more so than it would to attempt to take the cube were it in this current form's possession. Also, I must ask, is bullying allowed in this instution? I ask because I came across a boy being bullied by someone who was more akin to a loud mouthed gorilla, sentient human gorilla than anything else." Bismarck said

"I can only assume you mean Mister Winchester." Glynda suggested.

"If that is his name then yes, I assume so." Bismarck said.

"I'll deal with it later." Glynda said.

"If that is everything then I'd like to see the condition for my other half, internally I feel fine, however there is quite notable exterior damage and the screws as well as the rudder must be repaired before I can consider resuming active duty in this world." Bismarck said.

"Understandable." General Ironwood said.

"There is one more thing." Bismarck said.

"And that is...?" General Ironwood asked.

"If another warship girl is found with shoulder length blonde hair, brown eyes, black and red uniform with black armband with a white four section cross, or as we call it. Balkenkreuz, she is to have minimal contact with males." Bismarck said.

This condition for this warship girl, upon being found was... Somewhat unnerving to General Ironwood.

"May I ask why?" General Ironwood asked.

"If you value the safety and sanity of your men, then believe me. It is best to do what I say when handling this one." Bismarck said

"I see." General Ironwood said before Bismarck saluted and turned her wheelchair back around, leaving out the way she came by the elevator.

Bismarck went down the elevator and saw straight ahead were those she'd asked to wait for her. Bismarck rolled the wheelchair herself to the group.

"Why'd they want to see you, Bismarck?" Yang asked. Bismarck just dismissivly waved her hand.

"Nothing, nothing. Just questioning. It is no concern. Shall we get going?" Bismarck asked before she noticed Penny was gone.

"Hnm... Where is the orange haired one? The overtly joyful one?" Bismarck asked.

"Oh, you mean Penny? She left after you did, said she had something to look into." Blake said.

"Hmm... Fair enough. Shall we get going? Do you four remember where I intended to go?" Bismarck asked.

"You said you were going to town to see your... "Other side". Right?" Blake asked.

"Yes, that's it." Bismarck confirmed

"Uhm... Guys?" A blonde boy, Jaune. Bismarck completely forgot about was still present.

"What's going on?" Jaune asked.

"Oh, right, you haven't heard yet." Yang said.

"Heard what? And why did Blake say her "other side"?" Jaune asked, concerned as to what he was getting into.

"I shall explain. I am the human embodiment of the Battleship, Bismarck. My name is that of the ship which was brought into port." Bismarck said.

"...Nice joke?" Jaune said, the concern more so present. Now he was just worried he got himself entangled with a lunatic.

"If you don't believe, then tag along. I shall provide all the proof necessary upon reaching my other half. Or don't. It matters little to me. Eitherway, I'm going to oversee the repairs. Yang? Would you be so kind as to help me with the chair? It will take time to get used to wheeling myself around." Bismarck asked.

"Uh, yeah, I got it." Yang said as she went around the back of Bismarck and took ahold of the handlebars on the rear of the wheelchair.

"Vielen Dank. Now, shall we get going?" Bismarck asked, looking to Ruby.

"Yeah, let's go!" Ruby said happily as she lead everyone and Bismarck to a flying machine, Bismarck hadn't seen before and helped load her up onto it.

Bismarck was of course embarrassed by this, she was the pride of Ironblood, yet she required help to just get anywhere. She felt ashamed she let this happen. Just before the machine, which Bismarck was told as she was loaded up was what they called a "Bullhead". It was clear to her on examining the vehicle that in some ways the machine was more so advanced than certain machines in her own world... It was somewhat unsettling. Especially since somehow with this technology they couldn't figure out how to keep back or fully destroy these "Grimm" creatures.

Bismarck watched out the window while the Bullhead left the school and down in port already could be seen a massive drydock being constructed down at the port. It filled Bismarck with some confidence that, perhaps she wouldn't be stuck in the damnable wheelchair she was in for too much longer..


	3. Chapter 3

**B**ismarck continued taking the sights of the city and the sea beyond it in from inside of the bullhead she and a team of girls she'd met, known as team RWBY. The sea was the only true home for a woman such as her.

Though she longed for her compatriots, Prinz, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Hipper. She longed and wished, hoping for just the slightest chance to meet her sister, in some way, shape or form. Though with this, she had a feeling, there might be others, there might be one or two who may make their way to this world.

Somehow, perhaps the same way she did, but even then she hadn't had the foggiest idea how she got to this strange world. But what she did know for certain was, to her knowledge, she was the first and likely to be last of her kind in this new world.

This didn't frighten her, she welcomed this. If she was to be the first, then she might make a name for herself, for Ironblood, to wash away the shame she felt in partaking in that war against Azur Lane, against warship girls like her, though not of her blood, they were one and the same.

She desired the shame to be washed from her as easily as dirt could be from her human form, simply in a shower or a bath. But she knew it would never truly be gone. The memory would still be there in her soul.

Strangely enough, she knew, somehow in some way she might not have to suffer such an existence, alone. Was it that she might share it with her new... Friends? She wasn't too comfortable with such a prospect but in some way, she felt she might be able to trust them. Unlike that blonde boy, Jaune, they hadn't dismissed her claims... Might she also be able to trust the General?

Along with the common sights she had seen in the bullhead from above the city, she had also seen warships which floated, perhaps they belonged to General Ironwood? If so, then perhaps she might not be able to trust him. But still, the fact remained. A foreign nation was reparing the damage to her other self, she felt that much was clear with the pain in her legs, slowly but surely. Dulling.

If nothing else, she would indeed owe a debt to General Ironwood, one she had intention to repay in full, all the while still remaining independent, for Ironblood. Bismarck had a faint feeling, if these "creatures of Grimm" had creatures which were capable of flight, then perhaps, her mission to free the seas for all mankind might perhaps take on a new foe. It would be ignorant to consider otherwise. But eitherway, if there were some sort of type of Grimm which were bound to the sea, Bismarck would have to learn of them.

Perhaps, should any of her sisters, Ironblood or not, come to this new world. They would have to be charged with protecting humanity at sea...

"Hey, Bismarck?" Ruby asked, gently shaking Bismarck's shoulder. Snapping her out of her train of thought.

"Hmm? Yes?" Bismarck asked, turning her attention to Ruby.

"How does the whole thing work, with you being a... Battleship and a human?" Ruby asked in almost innocent curiosity. Bismarck could only chuckle at this.

"Oh, child..." Bismarck said with a smile.

"Actually, I'd like to know, too." Blake chimed in.

"I see... It is... Complicated. This vessel of mine.." Bismarck said and motioned to herself with a hand on her chest.

"This is human, the internals are all human. The soul... The soul which I possess is not human. But to be specific with the current time. The soul which I would possess is not in this body. It is contained within my other self in the port. I intend to retrieve it." Bismarck explained.

"Retrieve it...? That is currently next to impossible. The Atlesian military is crawling all over your other self, last we saw." Yang said.

"It must be done. The soul is contained within what I and others like me, call a mental cube. If anyone were to obtain the cube then they would be able to force their will upon me, which cannot be allowed to come to pass." Bismarck said.

"She's right. It can't happen." Blake said.

"What do you mean? Not like we could do anything." Weiss said.

"Weiss, if Torchwick or the White Fang found this all out and tried it, they would get control over Bismarck." Ruby chimed in.

"Whoever these people are, they would have control over my firepower, which would be enough to level the whole city and Beacon. That's if they got ahold of my mental cube. They could kill me as well." Bismarck said.

"Didn't you just-" Weiss was about to say something before Bismarck continued.

"This body is human, the soul which possesses it, is not. What would be left is a husk. If you kill the soul of a shipgirl, the soul is gone, returned to the abyss. The ship become just that. A ship. The body which the soul is to posess becomes, as I said. A husk. Unmoving, unfeeling. Living, but also dead. Posessing the basic functions to be considered "living" but nothing beyond that." Bismarck explained, Ruby's heart sank, Weiss ...Was silent. Yang was as well...

"Then there's no other choice. We have to get this mental cube." Blake said.

"I would trust only you four with it. You have no ties to this... Atlesian military, nor any national organisations of this world. You're students, learning to kill the monsters of this world in service to mankind. I was created to defend Mankind's seas from it's worse enemies. Our goals are mostly aligned, though I must also seek to create a haven for others like me, should they come." Bismarck said.

"Like Menagerie, but instead of it being for Faunus, it's for Warship girls...?" Blake asked.

"It will technically be for all peoples, but I have planned that should more come, Warship girls will have a home there so they may not be manipulated and used as I and others of the Red Axis were." Bismarck said.

"It sounds nice enough." Ruby said.

"Indeed.." Bismarck said as the Bulkhead finally landed and Yang took up her spot, behind Bismarck. As the door opened and the group left the Bulkhead, Bismarck was rolled off the ramp and the group of six, with Jaune silently following, figuring he'd see if the claims were true, that Bismarck was truly a warship.

Through the streets, Yang rolled Bismarck until they finally reached the docks. The Atlesian military presence was of course as one could expect, tight as Yang rolled Bismarck up to a checkpoint manned by two soldiers.

"Hold up there, kids. You can't come through." One of the soldiers said as he put his hand up and out, motioning for the group to stop.

"Bismarck...?" Ruby asked as she came up next to Bismarck.

"I expected this..." Bismarck muttered to herself. "Yang, turn us around." Bismarck said.

"You sure?" Yang asked, surprised.

"Ja. I mean, yes." Bismarck said as Yang shrugged and turned Bismarck around, the group left the checkpoint, going further down the docks, Bismarck was... Steaming with anger.

"We must get my mental cube. Somehow." Bismarck said.

"It wouldn't be too difficult but... I could slip in if we had a distraction." Blake suggested.

"It will be best if this is done at night... Let's see... I was found I believe about maybe four days ago... So that would make this... Saturday? Can it be done?" Bismarck asked.

"Yeah, it's the weekend, we don't have to be back at Beacon before 10." Yang said.

"Wait, we're not seriously considering this, are we? Breaking into an Atlesian military position, that's just-" Weiss was about to continue before Bismarck interrupted her.

"It is for the good of mankind that we do this. ..That someone do this." Bismarck said before two others came, one with a dynamic entrance, coming down from a crane and the other just around a shipping container. The first appeared to be a blonde man... With a monkey's tail? And the other... His hair was blue, and he was already making eyes towards Bismarck, which Bismarck showed no reaction to.

"Hey guys, getting into trouble again? Whose your friend?" The blonde asked.

"Their friend is Bismarck." Bismarck said, the two guys looked to each other.

"Uh... You mean your named after that ship in the drydock?" The man with the blue hair asked.

"Bismarck, uh... This is Sun and Neptune."

"Mhmm.. I see. And to answer your question. I am not named after the ship. I am the ship." Bismarck said.

The two looked to each other for a moment, then to Bismarck, then back to each other and then back to Bismarck, from the looks on atleast one of their faces, the one was about to laugh but they could tell from Bismarck's expression, she was serious.

"I see... So uh... What's that we heard about breaking into an Atlesian military position?" The blue haired man asked and Weiss immediately rushed in.

"Oh it's just to help our friend Bismarck.~ She's got something very valuable in that ship and she needs our help to get it.~" Weiss said.

"Oh, really? Well, maybe we could help with that." The blonde suggested.

"Mn... We need a distraction more than anything... Though I suspect only one of you might be good for that. The other may be best to help Blake.." Bismarck said as she looked over the two men, Weiss was backed out of the way by Ruby while Bismarck rolled her wheelchair, herself to the two.

"You. With the tail. I am guessing your name is Sun, yes?" Bismarck asked.

"That's what they call me." Sun said with a cheeky smirk.

"And you... Obviously you are Neptune." Bismarck said, turning her attention to the blue haired man.

"Yeah, that's my name, how can I help?" Neptune asked.

"You will go with Yang, Ruby and Weiss. Sun will go with Blake to retrieve a piece of technology that is housed deep inside my ship. It is called the Mental Cube." Bismarck said as she rolled her wheelchair back to Yang.

"Uh... First question, what's a mental cube?" Sun asked.

"It's important, that is all you need to know. You will know it when you see it. It should be in an office on the ship. The signs you will see will be in a language unfamiliar to you... Has anyone a pad of paper and a pen or pencil?" Bismarck asked.

"I got my little black book and a pen. Never leave home without it, gotta keep the numbers somewhere-" Neptune said before Bismarck held her hand out immediately, Neptune hesitantly turned the book over and the pen, Bismarck opened it... And none to her surprise, it was listed mostly with phone numbers before she finally got to a clean page, using her knee she began writing down detailed instructions for Blake before she finished and took the page out, handing it to Blake, she then tossed the book to Neptune along with his pen.

"I shouldn't be disappointed, but I am. ...Anyway, Blake..." Bismarck turned to Blake.

"The doors on the ship, the hatches on the deck, when you go to open them, they will only open for you and Sun. When you enter the ship, close the hatch behind you, turn the mechanism on the doors counterclock wise to unlock, then clockwise to lock them. The other doors you will encounter along the way will just be normal, for the most part with only knobs. ...And I will warn both of you. You are traveling territory, no one has before. I know it sounds disturbing... But you will see sights which I will stress are not real. So whatever you see. Whatever you hear. It is all not real. Do you understand?" Bismarck asked.

"I... Yes." Blake hesitantly said.

"Y-yeah..." Sun also hesitantly said.

"Then if you understand, you've nothing to worry about. You are my only comrades in this world. I would do this myself but... I cannot. It must be you two." Bismarck said, taking Blake's hand, she shook it before letting go, she moved onto Sun and shook his hand.

"As we say in Ironblood... Viel Glück und gutes Wasser." Bismarck said.

"Remain here, and we shall come up with a distraction. You will know it when you see it." Bismarck said before rejoining Yang.

"Alright." Blake said as Bismarck, Yang, Weiss, Ruby, Jaune and Neptune left.

"So... Where'd you get her at?" Sun asked.

"She was at Beacon, sharing a dorm with Penny, Ruby's friend." Blake said.

"...She's crazy isn't she?" Sun asked.

"No, not from what I've seen and heard." Blake said.

"But, she said she's named after the ship we're about to sneak into, actually not even named after it, she said she _is_ the ship!" Sun said loudly... Blake covered his mouth of course and shushed him.

"Right, right, sorry... But still. How many people would claim they're a who know's how heavy, giant warship in actuality?" Sun asked.

"Not many would." Blake said with a sigh.

For the next few hours more questions would be asked as the day turned to night and finally the distraction came in the form of a dust explosion which caused the guards to mobilise and check it out, giving Blake and Sun the window of opportunity they needed to sneak onto the ship, sneaking down the deck they found their way to the rear of the ship and up a stair case leading to the upper decks.

Going down along the deck they found their way to what could be described as a sort of catapult, next to it was a large hanger door, but they kept going, before they finally made their way to the bridge tower and inside of it, Blake as specified closed the hatch behind her and sighed.

"Uh... Blake..?" Sun asked, Blake turned around and she could see men rushing around in uniforms she hadn't seen before, speaking in the same strange language, it seemed three men could be seen talking while men rushed around them, one of the men rushing around, walked straight towards Blake and Sun, the two readied their weapons but the man just... Walked through the two, as if they weren't there.

"Blake, what's going on?" Sun asked.

"I don't know, but it's... Wrong." Blake said as she began walking, the men still didn't pay any attention to Blake and Sun. As the two got closer to the three to pass by them they could hear them talking.

"We sustained considerable damage in the last battle, Herr Captain, though we've no reports of fuel leaking yet, we must consider turning to Occupied France for repairs." The first man in the group said, the three were gathered around a map table as Blake and Sun saw.

"What of Prinz Eugen?" The most senior appearing man asked, he must've been the "Captain".

"The Prinz Eugen is still fully operation, we've also no sign of what we suspect to be the Prince of Wales following us. The British must still be licking their wounds from when we suck their beloved Hood." The second man said.

"Captain Lindemann. It's your call, sir." The first man said.

"There is no reason yet to turn back... But I will allow it. We struck a blow to the pride of the Royal Navy, though Operation Rheinübung's goals have not entirely been met, with the continued harrassment of the merchant fleets heading to and from the British Isles, I do agree, it may be best to make for Brest as soon as is possible. I'm certain the British will be busy hunting for the Prinz Eugen too. Their resources will be stretched thin. We will make it. We have yet preformed our duty to the Fatherland by proving the might of the Kriegsmarine to be superior to the British' Royal Navy. But alive men are more valuable than dead." The man now identified as Captain Lindemann said while Blake and Sun moved on, they continued on through the ship, seeing the men disappearing before their eyes as they left the bridge, going down a tight hallway they saw portraits hung on the walls of the high ranking officers on the ship.

Blake took out the piece of paper with the detailed instructions and read them, following the signs as they came, from "Offiziersquartier" to finally the door which was mentioned in the note. "Kommandant". Directly below that sign was another. "Kapitän zur See Ernst Lindemann" Blake took ahold of the knob and turned it, slowly opening the door, she saw a office, decorated as what she might expect the office of the ship's captain to look like, but it was quite unusual. Behind the desk at the other end of the room at each corner of it were two flags, both crimson, white, and black, with a strange looking insignia on it.

In the centre of the wall at the other end of the room, above eye level was a portrait of a man with his hair brushed to the right, he wore a brown uniform with a belt and a sort of sash attached to the belt, both made of leather, he had blue eyes while his hair was brunette and he had a moustache which was trimmed just to end at the width of his nose.

At the desk was a name plate with the same name as was on the door. "Kapitän zur See Ernst Lindemann."... But what was behind the name plate, on the desk was what Blake and Sun were sent to find. A blue, glowing cube which floated just inchest off the top of the desk.

"So that's what a Mental cube looks like..." Blake said as she went forward into the office, Sun followed, feeling creeped out.

"What kind of place is this...?" Sun asked aloud.

"Remember what Bismarck said. "You are traveling territory, no one has before. I know it sounds disturbing... But you will see sights which I will stress are not real. So whatever you see. Whatever you hear. It is all not real.". I don't know what we saw but I know, if Bismarck is right then it doesn't matter." Blake said as she gently took the Mental cube into her hands before she heard footsteps at the door, Sun heard them too, the two turned around and they saw the same man they saw on the bridge in a torn up, wool greatcoat, he was worse for wear than last time but still...

"Bismarck...? You said... Bismarck?" The man said as he stepped into the office.

"Yes, I did... She never mentioned anything about anyone else being here." Blake said, pointing her sword to the man.

"We're all here. ...And... She? ...We always called this place, he..." The man looked around, almost shocked.

"You're... Captain Lindemann, aren't you?" Blake asked.

"Yes, I am. ...Captain Ernst Lindemann. Did... She send you?" Captain Lindemann asked.

"Yes, she sent us for this." Blake held out the Mental cube.

"I see... I don't know what that is or why it's in my office but... I suppose.. "She". Will know best... Would you mind my asking... Where is my ship, now?" Captain Lindemann asked.

"It's.. In a drydock. In the kingdom of Vale, on Remnant." Blake said.

"I've never heard of this... Vale, or Remnant... Strange.. Well.. If she sent you, will you give her a message... From the crew and myself?" Captain Lindemann asked.

"Of course." Blake said.

"Thank you... Tell her... It was a great joy, serving on her. And I wish her... Viel Glück und gutes Wasser." Captain Lindemann said, a smile donning on the older man's face.

"I see. I'll make sure to tell her." Blake said as Captain Lindemann gave her a nod and moved out of the doorway.

"Thank you." Captain Lindemann said as he disappeared, right before Blake and Sun's eyes.

"Did... Did we just encounter a ghost?" Sun asked as Blake started on her way, without a word.

"W-wait hold on! Don't leave me here with the spooks!" Sun yelled as he ran to catch up with Blake, Blake and Sun both made their way to the bridge where it was now devoid of any life, living or spectral, she opened the hatch and the two went back the way they came, returning to the shipping area where they found Bismarck, Yang, Ruby, Weiss, Sun, Jaune, and Neptune, waiting for them.

"Hey Blake! How did..." Ruby started before she noticed the blue, glowing cube in her hands and a somewhat sad expression on her face.

"Blake...?" Bismarck looked to Blake and wheeled her chair over to Blake, holding her hands out to take posession of the cube, while she simultaniously noticed the expression written on Blake's face.

"May I ask... What you saw in side of me...?" Bismarck asked.

"I saw, a friend of yours." Blake said as she gently turned the cube over to Bismarck.

"A... Friend?" Bismarck asked

"Captain Lindemann." Blake said.

"Who?" Ruby asked, coming into the conversation as Bismarck's chest tightened with grief.

"Captain... Lindemann...?" Bismarck said, holding back tears and any expression of sadness she could.

"Yes... He wanted me to give you a message, from himself and the whole crew." Blake said, sadly.

"...What... What was the message?" Bismarck asked, looking down at the cube so her cap's visor may shield her eyes so no one may see any tears of her's.

"He said... I.. Don't know if I'm saying this right, but.. Viel Glück und gutes Wasser.." Blake said which came out somewhat slightly butchered but Bismarck understood it.

"Good luck... And fair waters..." Bismarck said as tears welled up in her eyes and she began to sniffle.

"Bismarck..." Ruby said, putting her hand on Bismarck's back as she wiped the tears from her eyes with her right sleeve.

"I-it's nothing! Do not worry about me!" Bismarck said, insistant nothing was wrong. "J-just please, get me back to the dorm..." Bismarck requested and silently the whole group traveled from the docks to a Bullhead, then back to Beacon, most of the group split off and Blake took over from Yang, pushing Bismarck's wheelchair all the way back to the dorm.

"You miss them, don't you?" Blake asked.

"I... Don't know. They were brothers on the seas to me. They and I had one job. To protect the seas... At a time, quite very different from the last. ...In the starting years of one of the greatest wars the first world I was in, fought. I was just a machine... I had no blessing of feelings, though... When I was sunk... I was reborn with these feelings... And the terrible memories. A love of a captain which commanded me, a love of the crew which fought on me, lived as brothers on the sea, an extended family. ... And the sadness of it all... I ended up being forced into the same situation which brought me to ruin... Not one person will ever know what that is like, no matter how much they desire to know." Bismarck said as she held the cube in her hands.

The halls were devoid of life as the cube glowed and the two went on through them before finally, Bismarck reached the dorm room.

"Blake..." Bismarck said as Blake let go of the wheelchair and went to leave, walking past Bismarck. Bismarck took ahold of Blake's hand and held it, her head lowered though tears could still be seen rolling down her cheeks.

"Bismarck..." Blake said, turning to Bismarck, looking down on her.

"Thank you." Bismarck said as she let go of Blake's hand. "I had no right to ask of you to undertake such a task as retrieving this device... But I thank you." Bismarck said as she took ahold of Blake's wrist and gently turned her hand over, putting the cube in her hand.

"We had agreed, you and your team would safeguard it, again I thank you for everything that happened tonight... I... I need rest..." Bismarck said as she opened the door to her dorm and rolled herself inside, inside Penny could be heard, thankful Bismarck was alright, asking her questions as the door shut.

Blake just stood there and for a moment, she stared at the cube, hearing whispers coming from it, it's glow was almost... Mesmorising. But Blake snapped out of it and carried it all the way back to her team's dorm room, Weiss emptied out a lockbox and put the cube inside of it, where they then hid it under Ruby's bunk which was a mess in of itself.

Meanwhile, Bismarck had settled down and gotten undressed, she got herself in bed and quickly went to sleep, her cap rested on the bedside table next to her as she did so... What might the next day bring? Bismarck wondered, she hoped, secretly, she wouldn't have to endure such an existence in this new world, alone.


	4. Chapter 4

**"M**y... Child... We will be together soon, and the cries of our foe will make such beautiful music." An unfamiliar voice called out to Bismarck. Bismarck stood there, in a pitch black void. Silently listening, unable to force herself to respond. "Another child shall join you, the one whose name sake is that of Eugen of Savoy... Though, another, not of Ironblood is already there with you, find them. There is no room in our new world for anyone else, daughter." The voice said from behind Bismarck.

Bismarck, quickly turned to meet a face, partially hidden by long black hair, with two red horns, one protruding from each side of her head. "I don't know you. Nor what relation you have to me, that gives you any ability to call me "Child or daughter". Cease." Bismarck said, somewhat annoyed but concerned as to who or what this... Apparent warship girl could be.

"Of course you wouldn't know me. I only existed in a life before, on paper. Much like... Roon." The woman giggled and began backing up, into the darkness. "It's time to awake Bismarck, be a good girl until I arrive.~" The woman said, somewhat more so distressing Bismarck, just who was this, someone who existed in a life before on paper? What the hell could that mean? These questions bothered Bismarck until she saw a flash of a figure she'd seen before, an old... Friend. With long white hair in twintails.

"Bismarck, I'm here too! I need your help!" Prinz called out to Bismarck who woke up, instantly sitting up she extended her arm out as she sat up and yelled. "Prinz!" Bismarck sat there and looked around the room, a cold sweat overcame her as she looked around to see Penny sitting on her own bed.

"What's wrong Bismarck? Who's... Prinz?" Penny asked, Bismarck shook her head and replied. "Nothing. Just a bad dream." Bismarck said as she got up and went to the window, opening the curtains, she was met with the brightness of the sun and it's warmth to greet her "good morning".

"You're up and moving about? Are you sure that's a good idea?" Penny asked, Bismarck waved her off and dismissed her question. "It is what I must do. Besides I do not feel the pain anymore, not even the dull pain I felt when I was asleep." Bismarck said as she started to get dressed, a knock at the door was heard and Bismarck yelled. "One moment!" As she got dressed, putting her cap on last.

Bismarck walked to the door and opened it to see General Ironwood, quite unexpectedly but she knew it had to be for some reason, likely about the repairs, as they correleated to her not fealing any pain anymore.

"Herr General, what may I do for you?" Bismarck asked, looking up to Ironwood.

"I came to inform you, the repairs are finished and your ship is being let out of the dry dock. I assume you'll want to go out to sea, which is another reason why I came." Ironwood said, Bismarck could only wonder what he meant by that.

"I see... Please come in." Bismarck opened the door further and walked back to her bed, making it as Ironwood let himself in and shut the door behind him, little would he know, a few certain, unsavoury individuals were lurking in the halls and they saw where he went.

"Why would he be going into a student's dorm... I wonder." Cinder asked herself, in a whisper, aloud to Mercury and Emerald who were with her.

"I don't know, but let's listen.." Emerald said as Cinder lead the three to the door and began listening, most everyone were off elsewhere, it was a sunday, the weekend. All probably down in Vale or who knows where... Save for these three.

"The repairs to your ship are indeed finished. And there's other news. Another ship has been located by a group of fishermen, it's in a condition similar to what we found you in, seems to be abandoned with no one... Atleast no one they could see, aboard." General Ironwood said.

"I see. Then it is as my dream foretold. Another warship girl has crossed over to this world." Bismarck said, her arms crossed over her chest, this just lead to the question arising in her mind... How many more will come? Will... _She_... Be here soon?

"You dreamt of another warship girl coming here?" General Ironwood asked with an eyebrow raised while Penny just sat there on her bed and listened.

"Indeed I did. ...A close... Friend. Of mine. Prinz Eugen. She and I sunk Hood and almost sunk Prince of Wales, but Prince of Wales managed to escape." Bismarck explained.

"So, she helped you kill another warship girl?" General Ironwood asked.

"It was war. Killing is only natural in war, I already acknowledged, I was fooled into forming the Red Axis along with Akagi and the others. I shan't be fooled once more." Bismarck said.

"So, this Prinz Eugen came over then... What may happen if we find this... Hood has crossed over too?" General Ironwood asked.

"Nothing. I will not go after her, nor will I allow Prinz or any other Ironblood shipgirl to go after her. The war is over for us. We are in a new world with new lives. We cannot squander it." Bismarck said.

"I see." General Ironwood replied.

"If that is everything then I shall be going to retrieve her myself." Bismarck said as she made her way to the door, she could just barely hear footsteps on the otherside of the door but she shrugged it off as she opened it.

"I'll be sending a ship as well, with Penny." General Ironwood said, Bismarck stopped in her tracks.

"I see... Very well. Do what you wish to, General." Bismarck said as she left, remembering the route she took to get outside. As she took the stairs she heard the same blonde boy, Jaune and a familiar voice... The bully? Bismarck turned a corner and there she saw Cardin, harassing Jaune, off down the hall, she could see a redheaded girl also approaching.

"See I caught you again, and not even blondie is here to save you." Cardin said with a smirk as he held Jaune up by his collar.

"I do not remember giving you permission to give me a nickname. Swinehund." Bismarck said coldly as Cardin instantly dropped Jaune and turned, backing up from Bismarck.

"I didn't mean that, I didn't call you that, I swear." Cardin said as he backed up, Bismarck continued her approach, keeping up and getting closer, slowly.

"What a coward. You will pick on those unwilling or unable to defend theirselves but quiver in fear at the sight of me. The only one who could put you in your place." Bismarck said as she continued backing Cardin down the hall.

"You think so? I can take you, you little-" As soon as Cardin started talking, Bismarck pulled back her fist and ran forward, punching Cardin in the face, sending him flying down the remainder of the hall, implanting him into the wall where the hall ended in a T-junction. Meanwhile Bismarck stood there, unimpressed, she looked to her side and noticed the red head.

"Take care of the boy. He needs to be trained properly." Bismarck said as Ruby came around the corner of the T-junction, in awe of Cardin being stuck in the wall, she looked down the hall to see Bismarck.

"Oh my god, did you do this?!" Ruby asked as she rushed to Bismarck.

"Mm... Yes, I did?" Bismarck said with an eyebrow raised.

"So cool! I've only seen Yang do something like that, and even then she has to be real mad!" Ruby yelled, excited while the redheaded girl picked Jaune up and started talking with him, Bismarck didn't particularly care for the conversation, it was likely just a "who was that" and would be followed by a lengthy explanation which would leave the redheaded girl speechless, and in doubt of the truth of it.

"Mhmm.. Well I'm sorry, Ruby but I must get going, I have to go help a friend." Bismarck said as she started on her way once more.

"A friend? Who? Maybe I can get Weiss, Blake, and Yang to help." Ruby suggested.

"Ruby... You and your friends have already done so much for me, keeping what I asked of you to keep, safe. I cannot in good conscious ask of you to help me with this." Bismarck said.

"Bismarck, we're friends, I'm glad to help you with whatever you need." Ruby said with a smile.

"I see... Then I must ask of you to help me rescue my... Friend. Prinz." Bismarck asked.

"C'mon, let's go get everyone else." Ruby said, motioning for Bismarck to follow, which she did.

Going down through the halls, Bismarck was brought to team RWBY's dorm, Bismarck was somewhat... Questioning. The stability of the makeshift bunkbeds which she saw the moment she entered the room. But she'd address that at a later time.

"Hello, Blake. How is what I asked you to hold onto?" Bismarck asked Blake, who was reading. Likely a usual thing she did.

"It's hidden, don't worry." Blake said, not even looking away from her book.

"Thank you." Bismarck smiled, she was grateful to meet such a group of people, she somewhat felt she could trust, it was comforting to her, in this new world. She couldn't imagine what she'd do if alone... Trust Ironwood? With what she's heard, he's the head of the "Atlesian military", trusting in a foreign power? Not something that would be wise.

"Hey Biscuit, what's up?" Yang asked as she came in the room with Weiss.

"Biscuit..? ...I.. Huh. Alright, I suppose this is what they call a "nickname"?" Bismarck asked with an eyebrow raised, not sure what to make of this new "nickname" of her's.

"You mean you've never had a nickname?" Ruby asked.

"No, never... But anyway, that's for a later time. I came to ask for help, though I've already asked so much more than I rightfully should, I must ask of you to help me rescue a friend of mine." Bismarck asked.

"Who's this friend of yours then?" Blake asked, lowering her book.

"Yeah, is she another warship girl?" Yang asked.

"She is, her name is Prinz Eugen, she was with me when I was on my first, and last sortie against Azur Lane." Bismarck confirmed.

"Now look, are we sure we should do this?" Weiss asked.

"We're doing it." Yang said.

"You four are the only ones I can see to be in my corner with all this, I don't fully trust Ironwood or anyone else with this." Bismarck said as there was a knock at the door, Yang went and opened it up to show Jaune, the redheaded girl Bismarck left him with earlier, and two others she hadn't seen before.

"Bad time?" The redhead asked, looking back to see Bismarck in the room.

"No, it's fine, we're just getting ready to go out, again." Yang said.

"Oh? You going to town? Mind if we tag along?" The redhead asked.

"Uh... I'm not sure, Pyrrha, we're not really going to town." Ruby came over and said.

"Where are you guys going if not town then? Oh! Are you going to go rob a bank?!" An orange haired girl with blue eyes asked, amost accusingly, but the way she acted was quite... Erratic. To say the least. Bismarck knew she had to put an immediate halt on such an idea spreading around.

"Nein. We are not going to rob a bank." Bismarck, stepped up behind Ruby, crossing her eyes.

"Oh, you so have to be! Only someone who would be robbing a bank would deny it!" The orange haired girl rushed passed Ruby and Yang, pointing a finger directly at Bismarck's nose... For a second before she was drug back by a black haired young man in what Bismarck could only describe as Chinese type clothing.

"I'm sorry." He said as he pulled the orange haired girl, just leaving Bismarck there, wondering for a second just what the hell happened? Before she shook it off.

"We are going to go retrieve a friend of mine." Bismarck said.

"A friend? So you are going into town then." The redhead said, thinking it was confirmed.

"Mm... In a way I suppose. However the only reason we'll be going into two will be to get to our means of transportation to get her. I suppose if Ruby and the rest of her team can vouch for you, I can allow you to come with us." Bismarck said.

"Yeah, they're okay, though I think you should leave explaining everything to us." Blake got up off the bed, where she sat and set her book down on the bed.

"Mhmm... Alright, are they okay?" Bismarck asked, looking to Ruby and Yang.

"Yeah they're trustworthy." Ruby said.

"Yeah I'd trust em." Yang said.

"Then it is decided... Also, Blake, please bring what I asked you to keep safe, along with you." Bismarck requested of Blake.

"Alright?" Blake dug out under Ruby's bed a few items of junk before she pulled out a gym bag and opened it, taking out the mental cube.

"Uh... What's...?" The redhead asked before Bismarck cut her off.

"It doesn't matter. Atleast until you tell me your names." Bismarck said.

"Uh.. Okay. I'm Pyrrha." The redhead now identified as Pyrrha said.

"I'm Ren, and this is Nora." The man dressed in the green chinese type outfit said.

"And the blonde boy is Jaune." Bismarck said, giving them a nod.

"Yeah, that's me." Jaune said.

"Mhmm. Right, let's get going." Bismarck said as Pyrrha parted out of the way for her.

Bismarck lead the group out of the dorms, Team RWBY and JNPR as she came to know the latter group went and collected their weapons before they boarded a bullhead and headed straight for the port where Bismarck could already see, her other form removed from the drydock and moored, a large crowd had gathered, watching the ship, no one was aboard the decks and finally, as word had gotten around, the ship had finished it's repairs and was just simply moored. On the dock a group of soldiers stood, holding the crowd back from a boarding ramp as Bismarck, Team RWBY and JNPR followed her through the crowd.

"I didn't think we'd be heading to the new ship, Atlas brought in." Ren said as he followed behind Pyrrha.

"Neither did I, certainly surprising." Pyrrha said, meanwhile Nora was excited.

"Oh! We're gonna head up onto that big steel beast?! Does it belong to Bismarck?!" Nora asked, more questions followed from her but wouldn't really be answered as most didn't know her too well anyway.

The guards parted for Bismarck, but stopped Ruby and her team. Before Bismarck explained they and the next group with them were coming with her. The guard would relucantly let them through. Ruby was quite visibly excited as she boarded the ship, Weiss.. Well, no one could rightly tell what she was feeling, Blake followed with a bag, carrying the mental cube in it, Yang was happy just to be along, Team JNPR followed, somewhat the same though Pyrrha, Ren, and Jaune were more reserved than Nora, though in Jaune's case it was just more nerves than anything else.

The boarding ramp was pulled back from the ship and the moors were let slip, Bismarck pulled the moorings up on deck herself and tied them down before she went inside of the ship, motioning to Blake to follow her. Blake did so of course.

"Thank you for keeping my Mental Cube safe." Bismarck said as Blake opened the bag she carried and handed Bismarck, the Mental cube.

"It wasn't too much of a problem, now I suppose you'll be putting it back?" Blake asked.

"Correct." Bismarck said as she turned and left down the hall, stopping at a turn she smiled to Blake.

"I mean it, you and your friends, I'm in debt to you all more than you may realise." Bismarck said before she continued on and disappeared from sight. Blake came back out and set the bag she brought, down next to the door as she felt the ship move, black smoke belched from the smoke stack that towered up behind the bridge, before the smoke subsided. Only barely visible black whisps of smoke had now started to flow out of the smokestack before the ship pulled out of port, slowly.

Yang stood up near the bow and smiled out to the sea, Weiss made her way up to the observation bridge, passing by who she assumed to be the crew of the ship since they didn't look out of place though the language barrier was mildly annoying for her but she wasn't hindered in finding her way. Bismarck stood out by the first of the eight turrets with 38 cm guns.

She watched out to the sea as the ship cleared land, an Atlesian warship followed behind in the clouds. Bismarck heard a hum and looked to her left to see Ruby there.

"Oh, Bisschen rot. What do you need?" Bismarck asked, turning her attention back to the sea.

"I was just wondering, Ren is asking where the Kitchen is on here, Nora is getting restless." Ruby said with a smile.

"I see. Alright." Bismarck wondered back to the second turret to see Nora dangling from the left barrel on the turret, Bismarck just shook her head and made her way to Ren who was standing down on deck just watching.

"I see... Getting restless means she's using my turrets as jungle gyms." Bismarck chuckled as she watched Nora swinging by her hands back and forth on the left barrel.

"Yeah, could be worse." Ren said with a shrug.

"I... See?" Bismarck said, wondering just how her boredom could be worse.

"...You going to show me the kitchen?" Ren asked, looking to Bismarck.

"Mhmm, come." Bismarck said, motioning for Ren to follow.

"Alright... Nora! Come on!" Ren yelled, Nora immediately scurried off the turret and came down, following Ren who followed Bismarck, inside.

Bismarck lead the two through the halls of the ship, it seemed they were the only ones who noticed the crew who made their way, going through Bismarck, instead of around her. This of course was unsettling for the two but Ren kept Nora quiet as they finally came to the mess hall.

"And here we are, the kitchen is there in the back." Bismarck said, Ren and Nora looked around, seeing the room full of men, eating, laughing, joking, and talking.

"Uh... Bismarck? Are you sure it'll be fine to get back there?" Ren asked.

"It's fine. There's nobody back there." Bismarck said, though evidence was to the contrary from their perspective.

"I don't..." Nora started to speak before Bismarck walked past her, the room went quiet as she left, the apparent inhabitant that were seen by Ren and Nora watched them, talking quietly as Ren went back to the kitchen and got started while Nora, found herself a seat, nervously. Just what was going on here? Bismarck couldn't see the whole room was filled with men, talking and joking?

Bismarck continued on her way, ignorant of what everyone else was seeing, she couldn't see them. But she could feel, something was here. What it was, she wouldn't know entirely. But that was the latter of things she was concerned about. She was more concerned with finding Prinz and this other shipgirl. If Prinz just got here, and someone else had already gotten here, just who was it?

"So what are we watching for?" Blake asked as she approached Bismarck from behind.

"If you go inside, up to the radio room, you'll find a book with sillouettes of ships. Bring it to me and I shall show you." Bismarck said.

"Alright." Blake said with a shrug as she went off to find the book, going back in the same way she came on her first visit to the ship, Blake made her way up to the bridge, then back to a radio room, she saw a shelf and looked through the binders on the shelf, most of it was nonsense to her as she went from binder to binder, then she finally found it. Turning the first few pages she saw sillouettes for "Z-1, Z-2, Admiral Hipper, and Karlsruhe."

Finally turning another page she saw Prinz Eugen's sillouette, Blake closed the binder and took it under her arm with her as she left the room and back the way she came to Bismarck, on the deck.

"Here, I took a look but I'm not sure, which one are we looking for?" Blake asked as she handed Bismarck the binder.

Bismarck took the binder and opened it, flipping through the pages, all the way back to the one with Prinz on it.

"Here, this one. Prinz Eugen. Show this to everyone else and tell them if they want, there should be binoculars up on the observation area outside of the bridge, I think, should be a cabinet either in the bridge by the doors or outside on the obersation deck." Bismarck said as she handed the binder back to Blake.

"Alright." Blake said as she took the binder and went on her way, Bismarck turned back out to sea and watched, waiting.

* * *

**Meanwhile off at the** **midsection..**

* * *

"So, we're looking for another apparent warship girl, like Bismarck? Has she said how many of her kind actually exist?" Pyrrha asked.

Yang looked to Jaune, who looked to Yang and the two shrugged.

"So, that's a no." Pyrrha said with a sigh.

"Why would it be a concern as to how many of her kind there are in the world?.. Or her world." Yang asked.

"Because she's a killer, that's why. And we have no idea what she's truly capable of." Pyrrha said.

"Pyrrha has a point, we're basically alone on a boat with a self confessed killer." Jaune pointed out.

"Yeah but that was during a war in her world, not here, besides, she said it herself before, she was created to defend humanity, I'm pretty sure killing us would contradict that." Yang said.

"...Okay, Yang has a point too." Jaune said with a nervous sigh.

"Still, I'm keeping an eye on her." Pyrrha said as Blake came along with the identification book.

"Hey, Blake, what's that?" Yang asked, being the first to notice.

"It's a ship idenfification book, Bismarck wanted me to show everyone a silouette of Prinz so we all know what we're watching for." Blake said as she opened the book and flipped through the pages.

"A ship idenfification book huh? So it has pictures of ships from her world?" Jaune asked.

"Yes, apparently there's a lot of ships belonging to... The Eagle Union? The Royal Navy? The... Sardegna Empire...? The Sakura Empire, uh... The Vichya Dominion, Iris Libre, The Northern Parliament, and... Uh. Eastern Radience/Dragon Empery? Ironblood, which as far as I can tell, is Bismarck's own faction is also listed, but their ships are drastically out numbered by the Eagle Union alone... Uh.. Anyway. So we're looking for Pinz." Blake said, listing off all the nations listed in the book.

Blake flipped to the page and turned the book to show Prinz' silouette, showing Yang, Jaune and Pyrrha.

"She looks... Like a smaller Bismarck?" Yang said, unsure if that was even accurate but the basic shape of the ship was somewhat similar.

"She does, atleast to me anyway.." Jaune agreed.

"Yes, she.. Is quite similar." Pyrrha said.

"Mhmm. But regardless we must keep a look out-" Blake said before the ship began turning to port while an alarm sounded and a voice came over the ship's intercom system, playing loudly on the decks as Blake, Yang, Pyrrha and Jaune made their way to the bow to see Bismarck herself, her turrets slowly lurched starboard and the guns elevated, it would be then as every gathered on deck, they would see what this was all about.

Off in the distance, Prinz, her ship anyway, was in the grips of a Sea Feilong.

"Ruby!" Bismarck yelled, as she crossed her arms.

Ruby came running to Bismarck.

"What?! That Grimm is huge, I've never seen one of it's type before!" Ruby yelled.

"Call your friend Penny, her ship from Atlas is trailing behind us, and get to a lifeboat so her ship can pick you and your friends up." Bismarck said, not taking her eyes off the creature she saw before her, one that was engulfing her comrade none the less.

"Uh... What?" Ruby asked with an eyebrow raised, looking to the Sea Feilong in the distance, then to Bismarck, then back to the Sea Feilong, the back to Bismarck.

"You heard me. Your team and the other you brought is to get in a lifeboat and leave so I may do what I must." Bismarck said. Ruby was about to say something but Yang grabbed her and everyone made their way to the lifeboats, taking on down, they got it in the sea, slowly getting away from Bismarck as the whole ship started to glow.

Everyone was dumbfounded as to why... Until the ship broke up into cubes, like the mental cube Bismarck had team RWBY hold onto, temporarily. Bismarck herself dropped onto the water and the cubes shrunk, reforming around Bismarck into a new machine. The eight people Bismarck has brought with her were amazed at what just transpired.

To Bismarck this was normal, she went off on her way directly to the Sea Feilong and all four turrets elevated their guns, firing at the monstrosity, only a couple shells hit the creature but it was enough to get it's attention.

The creature unwrapped itself from around Prinz's ship and switched to attacking Bismarck, only when it came for her did Bismarck realise the true size of this monstrostity. And it's wings unfolded, giving Bismarck an opportunity, her AA guns on her outfit began opening fire at the wings, tearing through them as Bismarck raced and dodged the creature.

"Shit, what I would do for air support right now!" Bismarck yelled aloud, continuing her dodging and weaving against the attacks before the Sea Feilong got a lucky swipe in against Bismarck, tossing her across the waters.. Bismarck took a moment to get up as the Sea Feilong closed in... Opening it's maw to eat Bismarck whole, until a shell was fired, hitting the Sea Feilong from behind, but... The only one the shell could've came from was.. Prinz.

Bismarck looked past the Sea Feilong to see the familiar face of Prinz Eugen, beaten up and badly injured, her turrets were still in operation, as they began firing their own salvos at the Sea Feilong.

"Thank god you're okay..." Bismarck whispered, with a smile donning on her lips. A new found strength compelled her now... She had to fight, not just for herself, but for Prinz as well.

Bismarck stood up straight and shifted her right hand to her chest, before extending it out, pointing to the Sea Feilong.

"Laden Sie AP Shells! Anton, Bruno, Cäsar, Dora! Vorbereiten auf Feuer!" As Bismarck spoke, she could hear inside the turrets, the shells were being switched as the Sea Feilong switched back to Prinz... Rushing with great speed at her, it lurged up into the air to strike her down... Just in time the shells were finished loading.

"Feuer!" Bismarck yelled, the shells left the barrels of Bismarck's 38 centimeter guns, they whistled through the air as Prinz braced herself to be eaten whole... Until the beast that bore down on her, exploded, for the most part. it was heavily damaged, that much was clear to even Bismarck, but a new surprise would be held as a familiar sound came to Bismarck's ears... Engines? Not from the Atlas ships, but... Zeroes?

Bismarck looked up to see aircraft above,... Flaming red, they dove on the Sea Feilong and peppered it with cannons as a couple dropped bombs and torpedoes, taking the creature down, completely.

And from the mist, Bismarck saw a familiar figure, the tails made her unmistakable. It was clear who she was...

"Ah? Bismarck? You're here too?" The figure said, coming closer. Bismarck could see her more clearly, her clothes were tattered and she was in quite a terrible shape but now she was just feet away.

"Hey...? Could you help me find Kaga? Big sister Amagi wouldn't forgive me if I lost her too.~" The figure said, it was unknown to Bismarck if it was or wasn't a joke. But she was at this point a sight for sore eyes, eitherway.

"It's been a while... Akagi." Bismarck said, Team RWBY and JNPR watched from their lifeboat as the Atlas ship that was following the group finally showed up, conveniently enough as the fighting ended.


	5. Chapter 5

**I have returned to assure everyone, I am still alive. Worry not, the plague hasn't taken me...(Yet)**

* * *

**"I**t'll look really bad if I lost Kaga." Akagi said before she started having a coughing fit, Akagi covered her mouth with her hand as she started, Bismarck rushed over and Akagi removed her hand from her mouth only to see blood on it.

"Oh.." Akagi said before she fainted, losing consciousness, she fell into Bismarck's arms and Bismarck let out a sigh..

"Verdamnt... Alright, I have Akagi and Prinz to worry about, all at once." Bismarck shook her head and picked Akagi up over her shoulder, Akagi's own rigging dispersed into it's "natural" ship form, a towering aircraft carrier had appeared after the rigging reformed.

Bismarck quickly squatted down and launched herself up onto the deck before her own rigging reformed into it's "natural" form. Bismarck jumped from the carrier while carrying Akagi and set her down up against the wall before she went and retrieved teams RWBY and JNPR.

Bismarck ran to the starboard side of her ship and lowered hooks from a rig for lifeboats. At Bismarck's direction, Blake and Ren reattached the hooks to the lifeboat as Bismarck pulled the boat up herself, she got the two teams on ship and Ruby fangirled at what Bismarck did.

"Ohmygod! That was so cool! You blew that Grimm up in so many different pieces then that other girl came in and finished him off!" Ruby yelled, still fangirling.

"Speaking of that other girl, was that Prinz?" Weiss asked, Bismarck shook her head.

"No it wasn't, speaking of which, Blake, Pyrrha, would you mind taking her down to the sick bay? She's on the port side, next to the first front turret. I'll be going to get Prinz." Bismarck said before she went off to go get Prinz, only to be stopped by Yang.

"Is there anything you need the rest of us to do?" Yang asked from behind Bismarck.

"Nein... No. There's nothing, just keep an eye on her." Bismarck said before continuing on, leaving her ship, she went to Prinz's ship and jumped up on deck...

Prinz stood there, leaning up against her first bow turret, holding her right arm before she turned to Bismarck, she was beaten up quite badly, blood ran down the left side of her head and her clothes were dirty, torn here and there.

"Prinz..." Bismarck said, not used to seeing anyone she considered her friends, or family in such a state.

"Heavy cruiser, Prinz Eugen... Hello Bismarck." Prinz said, clearly in pain but still trying to be a tease as per usual, even with her fellow ships.

"Quiet." Bismarck said as she picked Prinz up and walked over to the side of Prinz's ship, Bismarck jumped from the side and landed on the water, Prinz remained quiet, being carried by Bismarck.

"How did you get here?" Bismarck asked, looking down at Prinz.

"Azur Lane got me. I was with Akagi when it all happened, I'm sorry I left you." Prinz said, her voice emanating a clear sign of exhaustion.

"Nonsense. You were needed elsewhere." Bismarck said as she jumped up on the deck of her own ship and set Prinz down.

"I suppose so, but... Where are we now?" Prinz asked, looking around.

"Another world, apparently. It is called Remnant." Bismarck said, sitting down next to Prinz.

"I see.. Is Akagi...?" Prinz asked.

"Yes, she's here. Some... Friends. Are seeing to her below in sick bay." Bismarck said.

"Friends? Humans?" Prinz asked.

"Yes, and yes. I do trust them." Bismarck said.

"I suspected as much, but are you sure you can trust them?" Prinz asked.

"The one group here, Ruby and her team, yes. I'm not sure about the other team, or the nation of Atlas and who I suspect to be the top official of the country... But regardless, for now we have no choice. We must play the game of realpolitik. But I have a plan, we'll carve out our own land for not only our kind but for everyone on this planet who would join us." Bismarck said, looking off straight ahead of her, into the fog.

"A noble goal as any, what if Azur Lane comes?" Prinz asked.

"Then we will offer a hand to them, to allow them a chance to join with us. If they don't... Then, we will have no choice but to fight. But I hope it doesn't come to that." Bismarck said, she would indeed hope whatever the future held, they wouldn't have to fight Azur Lane, if any ships came around from Azur Lane, she'd try to her upmost to get them to see reason and come along with her.

"Alright... I'm.. Going to try to get some sleep..." Prinz said as she leaned on Bismarck and started to fall asleep.

"Right..." Bismarck said, leaning Prinz back against the wall before she got up and picked her up once again.

Bismarck carried Prinz carefully in through a hatch and brought her down the maze of hallways before bringing her to the sick bay where both teams, RWBY and half of JNPR were, just watching Akagi as Bismarck set Prinz down in a bed.

"What are you all, looking at?" Bismarck asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, uh, we weren't aware you had faunus in your world, Bismarck." Blake said as Bismarck came over to check on Akagi.

"Faunus? Oh, no, no. Akagi isn't a faunus, she's a shipgirl, but she's not from Ironblood." Bismarck said as she looked Akagi over.

"Where is she from then, in your world?" Yang asked.

"She's from the Sakura Empire." Bismarck said.

"Wait, didn't you mention something about Akagi before?" Weiss asked.

"Mhmm. Probably how she and I were tricked by the Sirens into going to war against Azur Lane. The Sakura Empire and Ironblood have their views on how Siren technology should be dealt with. In the case of both, we used it to better our own technology in different ways." Bismarck said as she noticed Jaune and Ruby wander over to Prinz.

"So this is Prinz then?" Ruby asked, leaning over Prinz with Jaune.

Prinz briefly opened her eyes and giggled before she did her signature move of putting her index finger up under her lips with a smirk.

"Oh my, oh my. Am I the sleeping princess to be kissed?" Prinz asked, her eyes fixated on Jaune as Bismarck rolled her eyes, Jaune just backed up from Prinz, causing her to give a teasing giggle.

"Prinz get your rest and stop teasing." Bismarck said as Akagi also regained some consciousness.

"Bismarck? Where am I?" Akagi asked.

"My sick bay. We're waiting for some assistance to show up, I don't think I can tow both you and Prinz to port." Bismarck said, sitting down beside Akagi's bed.

"I see... How is Prinz?" Akagi asked, looking to Bismarck.

"She's in much a same condition as you, but still. Thank you for helping me deal with the sea beast we had to kill, we'll get you back on your feet in no time, I assure you." Bismarck said.

"I see, I'll be in your care then." Akagi said, a slight smile donned on her face.

"That's what allies are for." Bismarck said as she got up to leave the sick bay, followed by Blake.

"Bismarck, I'm alright, I can still fight if need be." Prinz sat up in bed, holding herself up.

"Are you sure about that?" Bismarck stopped and turned to Prinz.

"Of course. I won't be fast with walking but you know how it is." Prinz said, a smirk donning on her face.

"I see.. Then come." Bismarck said, motioning for Prinz to follow.

Prinz got up and joined Bismarck and Blake, just slightly limping.

"So what do we do now?" Blake asked, following Bismarck.

"We'll wait, Penny should be along soon. We have no choice but for the time being to rely on Atlas for repairs to the ships. I cannot tow, Akagis' ships to port, myself." Bismarck said

"Ah, I see." Blake said.

Ren came down the hall towards Bismarck and Blake, carrying a piece of paper in his right hand.

"I hate to bother, but I passed by the radio room while looking for the mess hall again, for Nora. And this was in there." Ren said as he handed the paper to Bismarck.

"Thank you." Bismarck took the paper and looked it over. Looked to be a transcription of some radio transmission. More so strangely enough it was written in German, a language she knew certainly Ren couldn't have any knowledge of.

_To: Bismarck_

_From: General Ironwood_

_I am aware you are out busy right now, however a ship has been taken over by white fang, it's a commerce ship, loaded with dust, I need you to deal with this, original crew is likely dead, do this and I'll be in debt to you. As will the Schnee Dust Company._

_\- General Ironwood_

Bismarck took a deep breath through her nose, what, was she his unwitting attack dog now?!

"What does it say?" Ren asked.

"It says.. 'To: Bismarck, From: General Ironwood. I am aware you are out busy right now, however a ship has been taken over by white fang, it's a commerce ship, loaded with dust, I need you to deal with this, do this and I'll be in debt to you. As will the Schnee Dust Company." Bismarck said.

Blake's heart sank, she saw what Bismarck did to the Sea Feilong, now this firepower may be turned against her former brothers and sisters.

"I will deal with them according to international maritime law in my world. I will give them a chance to surrender." Bismarck said as she crumpled the message up and tossed it in a near by wastebasket before she continued on her way, Prinz followed close behind, a smirk on her face as she gave Blake a wink.

Blake went to follow before she was stopped by Ren.

"You should show this to Ruby and everyone else." Ren produced a second, folded up piece of paper from his pocket.

Blake took it and unfolded it, she began to look it over...

At the top of the page was an eagle with it's wings spread, it's talons clutched a wreath with a strange, obvious cross with one end elongated, really it looked more like a sword, below that on the left of the page was "Oberkommando Der Eisenblut Flotte: KMS Bismarck.".

On the right were a bunch of nonsense. Including some numbers set up as 17.10.40, below that at the centre of the page, in bold and underlined was "Unternehmen Seelöwe".

Below that was "Invasion in Großbritannien".

Following that, there was a section which she could actually read, named "Objectives"

_Objective: Inflict damage and weaken enemy naval forces. Provide distraction for the upcoming invasion. The assault will require the drop of paratroopers above the English coast, provide air cover and secure the airspace._

This caused a chill to run up Blake's spine, was she reading Bismarck's last official orders, the ones that ultimately sent her to this world, Blake shook off the thought and continued reading, she went to the next part, labelled "Intelligence."

_Intelligence threat level: High; Reconnaissance has detected high presence of enemy activity in your Area of Operations, expected high number of enemy ships and air assets. You'll be facing against the Royal Navy. __Viel Glück. _

Blake continued reading on, below the intelligence part of the message was a list of Royal Navy warships.

Blake folded up the note and handed it back to Ren.

"Take this to them, I need to talk to Bismarck." Blake ran after she handed the note back to Ren, she ran through the maze of hallways and back up to the deck.

Looking around, Blake saw Bismarck up ahead of the first bow turret. Blake ran to Bismarck as Bismarck watched out to the seas, waiting, with Prinz at her side.

"What is, this.. "White Fang"?" Bismarck asked, her sight affixed to the seas before her.

"They're... They're misguided." Blake said, hesitantly.

"Misguided?" Bismarck asked.

"They want equality for faunus but... They've been getting more and more extreme with their fight. Attacking civilians, destroying infrastructure... Piracy." Blake said, Bismarck could hear the hesitation.

"And with the likeliness of the original crew of the ship we'll be hunting, being dead and these... White Fang being the only ones on there, collateral damage will be minimum." Bismarck mumbled to herself.

"What?" Blake asked.

"You said it yourself, these White Fang, whatever organisation they must've been at some previous point, are nothing more than terrorists. Even if they're boys acting under the orders of a lunatic, there is no excuse. ...I, and Prinz, above everyone else here, the commanding officers who once touted me as the pride of a nation, came to learn this." Bismarck said as she started to approach the bow, her hands coming behind her back, she held both of them as she watched the waves.

"Still, you're going to give the a chance to surrender, right?" Blake asked.

"Of course. But still. All too strange... My original purpose in my first life was to cut cargo lines, to sink such vessels. But only Prinz ever got to do that while I was being hunted..." Bismarck said, a sigh escaping from her lips as she heard another set of footsteps, running to her.

Bismarck would turn to see Ruby, and her scroll, from what Bismarck could tell, Penny was on the screen.

"Hmm?" Bismarck stood there with an eyebrow raised.

"She said she can see Akagi and Prinz. Here." Ruby said as she handed her scroll off to Bismarck who would hold it up to the side of her head.

"Bismarck here." Bismarck said.

"Oh, greetings Bismarck! I see you and your friends! I'll handle everything from here." Penny said, bubbly as ever.

"Ser gute. I have new orders, myself. I'll be taking care of that, do take care of my friend, Akagi's ship. I shall return with Prinz, after I handle the matter I was entrusted with." Bismarck said.

"Alright!" Penny said before Bismarck hung up and handed the scroll off to Ruby again.

"Now, full steam ahead." Bismarck said as the ship slowly lurched forward in the water, at the stern, a few Atlesian ships could be seen going to Akagi's ship.

"Are we really going to hunt a pirated ship?" Ruby asked, hesitantly.

"Only this one time. Perhaps we may yet find something, something no one else has, along the way." Bismarck said, her arms crossing over her chest as she stared out to the sea, her ship went in full motion, cutting through the waters before her.

Finally, an objective which fit her original purpose, to hunt the sea lanes for enemy cargo ships, to decimate whole merchant marine fleets, to cut the arteries of an empire. While the context of this objective was not the same, it mattered little to her, now, now she had something to fulfill her purpose.

The sea breeze swept against her face as Ruby and Blake returned back below decks.

"I have a bad feeling about this.." Blake said.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"Bismarck took this all... A bit too easily." Blake said.

"You mean the mission?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah... Like it's giving her drive.." Blake said.

"No, I don't think so. I think it's because of Prinz, and Akagi." Ruby suggested.

"I don't know.." Blake said, she leaned against the wall, as one of the ghostly figures, both team JNPR and RWBY had become acclimated to seeing, passed by the two.

"I think, she's just doing it because of them, because they're hurt so badly, and she wants to make Ironwood, owe her. He'd have to repair both of them if she does good enough work for him." Ruby suggested.

"That sounds about right." The two would hear from behind Ruby and see Yang there.

"Yang? How long have you been there?" Blake asked.

"Since I heard the part about General Ironwood." Yang said.

"So you don't know then?" Blake asked.

"What don't I know?" Yang asked.

"That General Ironwood is sending Bismarck out to hunt for a cargo ship, the White Fang have captured." Blake said.

"Oh. ...I.. I didn't know." Yang said, a frown donned on her face.

"Bismarck thinks, she might find something, or maybe someone along the way." Ruby said.

"Any idea who?" Yang asked.

"Might be another Ironblood ship, or another one from the other naval powers of Bismarck's world." Blake said.

"She might be trying to find the lost island of Aluntium." Yang said, almost jokingly.

"Aluntium?" Ruby asked.

"Oh just some mythical island out in the sea somewhere. Just a myth." Yang said with a chuckle.

"Hmm.. You're somewhere on the nose with it though, she could be trying to find an island, something she could turn into a home, like Menagerie is a home for Faunus and Humans. She could be trying to find one for Humans, Faunus, and Warship Girls." Blake said, clearly thinking.

"It would be a good guess." Ruby said, a smile donning on her face.

Outside, Bismarck stood on deck, her eyes not leaving the ocean before her, before her last sortie just some time before she came to this world, her last commander, a brilliant man by any right, a historian... Strangely he made the same mistake as the one before him, ordering her out to try and break the Royal Navy, he told of an ancient time, where sails brought man to and from across the world.

He told of a time, when the precursor to the Royal Navy she faced, controlled the seven seas, a fleet of magnificent ships, not human, not steel, but of solid Oak and other woods. Of an empire which stood above all others, with dominion over 25% of the world. Hmm... Such a position in the world... In this new world, that had immense potential. That might not be too bad an idea.

With the Grimm about, a unifying force was clearly needed, this version of humanity was apparently too ignorant to be trusted to it's own devices. Atlas, from her position seemed to be the only state that had any real potential. It had an actual military force, she'd yet to see of Vale, heaven forbid the other two apparent kingdoms. Menagerie, from what she barely overheard a few times in the past seemed to be the ideal place where humans and faunus could live together...

But still, the issue remained, these White Fang lot... A new nation was needed. One that might force this faction to disband... Not only that but perhaps Bismarck could do as her namesake had done before. Forge a nation, with blood and iron.

"...Blut und Eisen. Eine neue Nation aufbauen und alle Feinde der Menschheit vernichten..." Bismarck said aloud to herself. A smirk donned on Bismarck's lips as a chuckle had also escaped, Prinz stood there too, a chuckle escaped her lips.

"So that's your plan then?" Prinz asked.

"Of course, Prinz. Humanity in this world needs a strong guiding hand if it is to push back the creatures like the one we killed that was attacking you." Bismarck said, stepping forward to the railing affixed to the edge of the bow.

Above her, to her rear, a black crow with red eyes sat on the edge of her first bow gun turret case mate. It remained silent but Bismarck could feel eyes on her, looking back she saw the crow and brushed it off.

"I'll need to think of what to say when I give them the ultimatum... Perhaps... "Fight and all of you will die... Surrender, and none of you shall die..." Yes, that will do just fine." Bismarck chuckled as she left the bow, the crow remained, watching her as she left before it took flight and flew up to her radar, standing up on it while it watched Bismarck head to the midsection of the ship, Prinz followed.

"So we're heading to fight the white fang now?!" Pyrrha asked, concerned.

"Apparently. But Bismarck said, if they surrender, they'll be taken prisoner and that'll be that." Blake said, though inside she was unconvinced and something at the back of her mind put her at unease...

It would be then a general alarm would go off on the ship.

Bismarck would come running, Prinz would be limp running behind her.

"My Seetakt is detecting a vessel nearby, all of you are to get down below until I say otherwise. Understand?!" Bismarck yelled.

"What's a Seetakt?" Pyrrha asked.

"Surface radar. Before it was inoperational but it's working perfectly fine now. Enough questions, move it!" Bismarck yelled.

Pyrrha and Blake would run to the nearest hatch and one of the spectral crew would shut it behind them as the spectres would be running up and down the halls, with helmets on instead of their usual caps.

Pyrrha and Blake made their way to the bridge where it was busy as nominally would be. Outside on the observation deck, Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Jaune, Ren, and Nora, stood, a few of them had binoculars already, below them, Bismarck and Prinz stood on deck, out at the bow.

Bismarck's ship slowed in speed to allow Prinz' which still had a tilt to it as well as some quite visible battle damage on it to pass and take the lead.

Prinz' ship took the head of the two ship formation as Bismarck, herself retrieved a set of binoculars to get a better view of the cargo ship.

"It is indeed a cargo ship... A dreadfully white ghost amongst the waves." Bismarck said, remarking on the ship's all white paint job.

* * *

**Aboard the Polar Star**

* * *

"It seems taking this ship was easier than we thought, barely any security, and that bastard human, Torchwick is gonna give us plenty of weapons in exchange for everything on here." Yvrin said, watching out the windows of the bridge to the seas.

"It wouldn't have expected anything less... Though the lack of security bothers me. And this gathering fog..." Adam said before a sort of... "blip" noise would be heard.

"Hmm... What is.. Radar is picking up two blips to our port. They're.. Big." Yvrin said, as he pointed to the left.

Adam looked and pushed the former captain of the ship's body out of the way of a cabinet, he'd take a set of binoculars out and would leave the bridge, out to the observation deck. Adam leaned his Katana up against the short metal wall and looked out to sea... What he'd see would unnerve him.

Two large ships with strange looking, what he could only assume to be cannons on the bow and stern, the flag they flew wasn't Atlesian, or any other flag that might be recognisable... But he'd see a bright light shine from the ship through the fog, it would turn on and off repeatedly.

"Yvrin, get over here!" Adam yelled, Yvrin came running and Adam handed his binoculars off to Yvrin who looked out to sea with them as Adam pointed.

"Seen anything like that before?" Adam asked.

"No... But... I think they're trying to communicate in Morse code..." Yvrin said as he looked through the binoculars

"Do you know what they're saying?" Adam asked.

"It's been a long while... But.. They're saying... This is.. The KMS Bismarck and KMS Prinz Eugen... Turn your engines off... Or be annihilated. ...Any resistance what so ever will be interpreted as a hostile act, and dealt with accordingly... Should you surrender, no one will have to die. Ironblood abides by international maritime law, warm food, and an acceptable bed will await you in our brig..." Yvrin said..

Adam only gave off a chuckle.. Who were these... Ironblood? To demand anything? Their cannons weren't even aimed at them and they certainly had to be out of range.

"Ignore them. They're out of range, and we can certainly out run them." Adam said, blowing off the offer, entirely.

"Adam, I don't think..." Yvrin said as he watched the turrets on Bismarck and Prinz Eugen turn in the direction of the Polar Star.

"They're out of range anyway, don't worry about it, besides those cannons can't turn." Adam said as he went back inside the bridge.

"That's what I'm trying to-" Yvrin said as a distant sort of "boom" or thunder clap was heard, followed by a whistle as something flew close to the ship.

What followed was a large splash in the water that shot water up into the air.

"What the hell?!" Adam rushed back and managed to get a look at the water that shot up into the water.

"They shot at us!" Yvrin yelled.

"Impossible... They're out of range!" Adam yelled in anger.

* * *

**Back, aboard Bismarck**

* * *

Bismarck lowered a set of Binoculars she retrieved from a nearby cabinet as she watched the water geyser that shot up from a shell, her ship shot at the Polar Star as a warning shot, the next surely wouldn't be...

"It seems they're turning to starboard... To run." Prinz said, looking through her own binoculars..

"Of course... ...Sink them." Bismarck said, it would be then her ship would let off a full salvo, including secondaries, the shells rained down on the ship, mainly the midsection, splitting the whole ship apart in one fell swoop.

"Finally... You served your intended purpose... Bismarck." Prinz said with a smile.

"..." Bismarck remained silent, Prinz turned to look to Bismarck, there was no real discernible trace of emotion on her face, no pride, no joy, no happiness. Just cold indifference.

"Bismarck..?" Prinz asked

"Prepare the loud speaker and take a post up on the observation deck... Standard procedure." Bismarck said.

"Yes.. Ma'am.." Prinz said as she did as told while Bismarck's ship turned to starboard...

Above, Blake, Yang, Weiss, Ruby, and all of team JNPR watched, just... Horrified... Bismarck, assumingly, wiped out a whole ship. From their perspective only as it decided to try to turn and flee.

"How could she..?" Ruby asked, a new perspective gained on her... Friend...

Blake just remained silent...

"She's a war machine... This is her purpose. To wipe out anyone or anything in her way.." Weiss said.

"Blake..." Yang said, she put a hand on Blake's shoulder, but Blake was too quick. Already, Blake ran through the bridge, past the spectres which roamed the ship and down to the deck..

Bismarck heard the footsteps and turned towards them to see Blake, angry, and upset.

"How could you?!" Blake asked, yelling.

"They were turning to flee. I will not waste resources, hunting down terrorists, beyond finding them and if need be. Eliminating them." Bismarck said, coldly.

"They were all probably just kids like Ruby, like Weiss, like me! There was no need for that!" Blake yelled, angry at Bismarck, she did have a point, if worst came to worse, Bismarck, Prinz, even team RWBY and JNPR could easily handle them.

"Don't talk to me about children. A good number of the men who served on me were but boys themselves. The men who operated anti-aircraft guns, the men who worked down below, the men who called this... Me. Home. Were for the most part, boys. Sent off to die for a lunatic. This is a war! ...This is a war to me." Bismarck said, angry.

"Then you have even better reason to have no killed them!" Blake yelled before the voice of Prinz could be heard over a loudspeaker.

"Young boys of the White Fang... You've nothing to fear from surrender, Ironblood is not your enemy, if you surrender, you will be treated well. Ironblood is well disciplined, you will be treated with compassion and respect. You will be given plenty of warm, hot, food, and clothing, and the wounded will receive proper medical treatment." Prinz said over the loudspeaker, her... Strangely sultry, germanic accented voice worked well on the loudspeaker.

"...Thank you, Prinz.." Bismarck said with a sigh.

"What is she talking about...?" Blake asked.

"International Maritime Law, in our world... In the world before our own, enemy personnel rescued at sea were to be put in the brig, supplied with warm food, blankets, and a pillow, until turned over to land forces, where they would be put in a prisoner of war camp. We are not complete savages." Bismarck said.

* * *

**In the ice cold waters...**

* * *

Yvrin held on tight to a piece of metal he landed on, his consciousness drifting in and out... Adam ordered the ship to port and when it began to turn... The ship... Exploded. The fire dust below in the cargo area, exploded and sent him flying out one of the doors of the bridge, and into the water...

He could see the bridge tower of the ship... Just slipping below the waves, he did see other white fang members abandoning the ship, though.. He didn't see the black clad leader, Adam... Where might he have gone?.. Little did that matter anymore as he could hear a voice and felt himself being lifted up off the metal he held onto, to keep himself afloat...

* * *

**Aboard Bismarck..**

* * *

Bismarck watched while Prinz carried a quite... Average looking boy aboard the ship, Team RWBY and JNPR were busy securing the shell shocked prisoners, escorting them below.

"Looks like your catch has considerable injuries, get the first aid kit, stop the bleeding and hand him off to team RWBY." Bismarck said as she scanned the waters for survivors.

Yvrin didn't know whether he was blessed or cursed... His consciousness, though loose, allowed him to watch as his wounds were dressed by some... Regular human looking woman with a revealing outfit, long, white hair in twintails with some red here and there while further off, another woman with long blonde hair looked over the railing... Just where was he...?

"Bismarck, we got the prisoners locked up... Anymore?" Yang asked as she came back.

"Mhmm." Bismarck said as she looked to Yang and motioned to Prinz, who was busy tending to the wounds of some boy, a teen.

"It seems Blake was right... All boys... Too many boys... ...And I have no doubt they would've been normally been ready to die for their cause... This... Slaughter. Has given them a true taste of war..." Bismarck said as she looked to the boy, Prinz was tending to.

"Take him to sickbay, keep two guards on him and whoever else you put there..." Bismarck said as she broke from the conversation, going to the bow of the ship... Today... Certainly was an eventful day. But still... Now all that was left to be done was to return to Vale.

But one thought remained at the forefront of Bismarck's mind... Independence. Independence. A new nation, one for both the squabbling species of this world. ...She would be the one to forge it, with blood and iron. Like her namesake.

* * *

**In the seas as Bismarck and Prinz' ships left the area...**

* * *

Adam... Taurus.. Just what events lead the fool to this point... Apparent injustices of the world around him, increased hatred for humanity, that was shared by a good portion of humanity towards him and his kind... But the latest... His love of his life, betraying him. ...Well. In his mind that's what it was anyway. Truth of it was, she was sick of him. And possibly what the cause her father created, had become.

Recently he'd take up a job for Torchwick. As much as he hated the human. And the feeling was most certainly, likely mutual. But they both had their leashes held by one person, nothing to be done. ...But he might as well improve the resources of his cause... Dust, dust helped that. Dust would get them weapons, money, influence, though the latter would only get them anywhere in kingdoms that had any view of Faunus as possible equals. ...Which there weren't many, naturally.

...If the current situation might be a sign to re-examine his life... He'd of course not heed it. He was only furious. What had managed to best _him_?! Of all people, he was bested by someone, a human, that's the only explanation. ...Now he had to find whoever it was... But that was only a thought. All of this were only but thoughts...

The fact of the matter of the current situation was... He stared into the abyss. His body sank down below the waves as his vision... Whatever vision he had, was blurred by the salty sea water. ...Might this be his grave? ...Though many would be happy if it were... His handler had one in turn... And she wasn't going to let this useful asset fall below the waves, not while he had some use to her plans...


End file.
